Miracles of Ancient Wonder
by GravelessUniverse
Summary: A maiden stood on the edge of an unfamiliar battlefield, which demanded skills she had never learned. She walked through an age of strife, wielding Fate as her weapon and leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. A RWBY/Exalted crossover.
1. Chapter 1-1

"You're worrying too much. Everything'll be fine."

"Everything isn't fine," Ruby huffed as she sank down in her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her head felt weird thanks to her sister insisting that they do something nice to it for this meeting. They got up super early to wash everything, do her hair with weird hair goop, cut stray threads from her combat skirt, and all sorts of other stuff that she only went along with because Yang and dad both insisted that 'appearances matter'.

All of it just felt phony. She wasn't wearing Crescent Rose for the same reason. Her precious scythe was in a carrying case underneath their bench! "We're flying to Beacon so they can, I don't know, interrogate me, test me, attack me… I was just trying to fight monsters and then... Then all of this..."

She waved a hand at the loading ramp of the Bullhead, then curled back up.

"Yeah…" Yang ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced from her sister, to the hatch in the back, then to Ruby again. She'd gotten a bit dressed up as well. Though she did so much with her hair normally, Ruby couldn't really tell the difference. Also, Yang's weapons were around her wrists where they belonged, "Hey sis,"

She leaned over and laid a hand on Ruby's knee, squeezing slightly, "I'm with you. No matter what they say or what we have to do."

"Come on," Yang shook her a little and grinned, "It's not like your semblance makes golden fire or anything really crazy, right?"

Ruby giggled into her skirt, "Nope, nothing crazy like that."

She leaned back and sighed. Her eyes flicked around the ship, pausing a little longer at each piece that was even a little complicated: the doors, the rotors, Ember Celica. She stopped there, frowning at her reflection. Everything looked almost right when she was reflected in the golden gauntlet. But things weren't right, they were just like last year when her sister discovered her semblance and got called in for a week of testing.

Yang didn't talk about it, but when she got back, she changed. Her normally loud sister was quiet at first. Then she started going out by herself more while coming home later and later each night. Sometimes she was gone for days at a time. Dad was worried it was boys, but Ruby was pretty sure that wasn't what she was looking for. Yang had been looking at dad's old picture book too often for it to be that.

She even vanished for a week straight during the past summer. She said it was for a road trip with her friends, but Ruby ran into them in Vale, without Yang. Ruby didn't tell dad about it.

Ruby took a deep breath and turned, meeting Yang's eyes. "Last summer, when they tested you. You came home and were acting really, really weird. What happened?"

Yang's grip tightened on Ruby's knee. For a brief moment, red met red while Ruby resisted wincing.

Yang snapped her head to the side and let go of Ruby. "I'm not supposed to talk about it," She paused and brought her hands together.

"That's the first thing they say. That they'll have to be harder on you if you know what's coming, so I shouldn't tell anyone. But you..." She bit her lip and hissed before shaking her head. "You'll be fine, I just know it."

Ruby gulped and nodded slightly. Yang still hadn't unclenched her fists though.

Ruby waited until Yang looked back at her and continued, "Dad went through it too, so did Uncle Qrow and mom. They said that only very good or very unlucky Hunters get called in. So getting called up like this, you've gotta be something special little sister."

Yang lightly punched Ruby on the shoulder, making the smaller girl sway back and forth again. With a giggle, Ruby nodded and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She went back to looking out the window.

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip.

As the engines spun down and the ramp lowered, they got up. Yang laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be some professor with nothing better to do who-"

They froze when they saw who was standing on the landing platform. A silver-haired man in a green suit. One hand was folded over a finely crafted cane while the other held a steaming mug. He softly smiled at them and raised one eyebrow.

"-oh."

Ruby grimaced and waved to him, "Umm, hello Headmaster Ozpin."

"Please, call me Professor."

* * *

The girls were led to a small academic building near the landing pad. Most of the rooms were lecture halls named after famous hunters. Many were Beacon graduates, but each had done something incredible. Professor Ozpin called it a way to keep their memories and deeds alive.

The impromptu tour paused just outside of a small kitchen.

"Before we get to business, would you like any refreshments? Cookies, cocoa?" Ozpin held the door open for them. Ruby and Yang each glanced at the other then shook their heads. "No? I'll be just a moment then."

Barely a second after the door closed Ruby was moving. She looked from Yang to the door and gestured at it wildly. She mouthed several words and shook her head, _"What, how, why?"_

Yang shrugged and mouthed back, _"I don't know."_

Ruby raised her arms up and dropped them, sighing. None of this made any sense. She walked over to a window and watched the other ships landing. Furniture, boxes, and… cages holding Grimm were all being unloaded. "Woah."

"I heard some professors have you fight Grimm in class. You know, for practice." Yang stepped behind her.

"Cool," Ruby's eyes lit up as ideas about how to handle each of the Grimm passing by flew through her head. Beowolves she'd fought before, they were easy; small Ursa too. But they'd only read about Boarbatusks at Signal. What would be a good opening attack? A sliding upward sweep? No that would leave her open if it missed. Maybe...

"Hey sis," Yang waved her hand in front of Ruby's face, bringing her back to reality. She'd sunk into a combat stance, hands positioned where they'd be on her scythe. Ruby heard the kitchen door opening and snapped back to an overly rigid posture, back and arms completely straight.

Ozpin stepped out with a steaming mug of coffee and looked at Ruby, "Let's continue then."

He turned and started walking away, Ruby raised her hand slowly before clenching her fist and dropping it. "Um, Professor Ozpin."

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Why are you doing all of this? Showing us around and everything. Considering, well..."

"Considering the mystery surrounding your semblance?"

"That's…" Ruby stopped herself from saying anything else and quickly nodded.

"Now seems as good a time as any to discuss it," He opened one of the classroom doors. "Miss Xiao-Long, please wait outside."

Ozpin held the door for Ruby and softly closed it. He took a seat behind the desk and waited while Ruby pulled up a chair of her own. For one long moment they sat there. Ozpin sat calmly with his hands folded in front of him while Ruby tried as hard as she could to not fidget in her chair.

"You don't have to worry Ruby," Ozpin broke the silence with a smile, "You're not here to be interrogated."

"But Yang said!" Ruby paused. "She thought that this was just like what happened to her at Signal. Only instead of whatever it was, you've been showing us around, but she's already going to Beacon so- so I..."

"Ruby, while there may seem to be some similarities, you aren't in trouble or under investigation. I heard about the request your sister sent to us and thought that I'd speak with you myself. There's a mystery that I think you'll be able to help me with."

"Help you how?"

"A few days ago I received a very strange message from the night watch in Patch. What do you think it was about?"

Ruby gulped and avoided looking at Ozpin while she spoke, "About how there was a big Beowolf pack that was destroyed by an awesome girl with a bright red aura and weird sign on her head."

He nodded. "A Huntress who they could not consistently recall one thing about, besides her red aura. Each of them described a different girl entirely."

"Yeah that was me. I didn't know any of them that well so I didn't think it was weird that they didn't recognize me even though they probably should've."

"Why was a girl like you fighting a pack of Beowolves by herself?"

"Someone had to."

"What about the adult Hunters nearby?"

"They weren't there. It was the middle of the night. They were moving almost silently, the Grimm that is, and were already past the watch towers. If I didn't stop them, they'd would've gotten to someone who couldn't fight back."

"You fought them all by yourself?"

"I didn't mean to. Umm, I mean. I just wanted to draw them away, make them chase me back to the towers."

"What happened?"

"I hit them from the side and tried to pull back, but there were even more hiding in the darkness! I took out two really fast," Ruby grimaced, "And then I was surrounded. I tried to push past them, but they kept me boxed in. We went on a few hunts at Signal so I know a little bit about Beowolves. These ones were bigger and spikier than any I'd fought before. They also hit a lot harder, but once I got started I was able to keep them away. So I continued fighting and just sort of kept going even though there were so many of them."

"I didn't even realize when they were all gone at first, just that there were other things coming for me from the bushes." Ruby stopped for a moment and looked towards the side of the room, "Then I noticed I was glowing and… and the noises were Huntsmen and well," Ruby laughed softly, "That's pretty much it."

"I see." Ozpin had leaned forward during the story and was looking at Ruby very intently. She just smiled awkwardly and stayed silent. She'd left some stuff out. Some stuff that was probably at least a little important, but it was personal and she really, really didn't want Yang to hear. She was sitting right outside, she probably heard all of this. But, she'd already told Yang all of this so there was nothing to fear there.

Not like the way Professor Ozpin was looking at her. She knew that look, it was the same look Uncle Qrow gave her when she snuck cookies out of the kitchen. It meant that he knew. He had to know. She was a terrible liar and now she could practically see him weighing his options. He was going to ask, she knew it. 'No, no, don't ask.' She thought as loudly as she could.

Ruby clenched her teeth and matched his gaze, wishing with every bone in her body that he just _not ask anything else about that night._

She felt something shift. Not the ground or her, something that she couldn't see. It was like when she was fighting and needed just a bit more speed so she pushed again the ground extra hard with her Aura. Was it Professor Ozpin? He didn't look like he was pushed, he was just smiling; smiling and no longer giving her that look.

"That's an impressive feat for someone so young." He leaned back and all of Ruby's tension flowed away, "It also explains most of what I wanted to know."

"Most?"

"Yes. I have one more question for you." Ruby winced and prepared herself for what was coming. "What do you want to do now?"

"What? I-" Ruby blinked a few times while her mouth hung open, "I want to be a Huntress, but..."

"But?"

"But how could I when no one remembers me?"

"Ruby, how many living Hunters can you name besides your family and teachers?"

She quirked her head to the side, "Fifty?"

"A very impressive number. Most people know of less than twenty." He took a sip of coffee. "In the kingdom of Vale there are more than one thousand registered Huntsmen and Huntresses, though not all of them are still actively fighting."

"To most people, any would be a stranger who came and saved them when they were most in need. Also, your sister seems to be able to remember you."

Ruby looked away again. "Yeah, though she didn't recognize me at first."

"Oh?"

"I, uhh. It wasn't just the glowing thing." Ruby rubbed the side of her neck and stared at the table, "My hair's a little redder and my eyes are…"

"They're very unique,"

She closed them, obscuring the unfamiliar red irises and bronze speckled pupils, "They used to be silver. Like my mom's."

Ozpin froze. He'd been bringing his mug back to the table and stopped inches above it. His expression shifted several times in an instant. Ruby couldn't keep up with all of it, but she could see several conflicting feelings before he finished setting his drink down. "I see."

"Professor Ozpin are you ok?"

"I'm fine Ruby, just surprised. Silver is also an eye color very few people have." He couldn't be fine after looking like that. She really wanted to say something, but he didn't ask her more before so it wouldn't be fair for her to now. "Now then, you say you want to be a Huntress?"

She nodded, "More than anything. Even if everyone keeps forgetting me."

"Would you like to come to Beacon?"

* * *

Later that night Ruby was lying on the roof of her room, looking up at the stars. She had to explain everything to dad, again, but it only took a few seconds before he remembered her this time. Then the hugging and the crying started. He felt so bad about it, which made her feel worse, and they just kept feeding into each other until Yang made them stop.

Then she told him that she'd been invited to go to Beacon with Yang and it started up again because "both of his girls were abandoning him at the same time." That time Yang got pulled into the bear hug. Thankfully it ended while Ruby still had ribs.

Dad was cooking one of his specialties to celebrate the good news. She'd normally be helping prep things, but there were too many questions running around her head. Why did Professor Ozpin react like that? What would having silver eyes mean? Mom's eyes had been silver too and no one ever made a big deal about them. Did he know her mom? Was that it? Mom and Dad were pretty awesome, but were they good enough that someone like Professor Ozpin would know them?

Ruby groaned and went back to her other mystery. The night sky was different now and she didn't know why. She could still pick out all of the stars she normally could and nothing really seemed different, but it had a weird energy to it. It was like there was something up there, dancing just outside of sight.

Maybe she wasn't looking hard enough.

She sat up and focused on the stars. She looked from constellation to constellation, the ones she remembered anyway, searching for anything weird. They just twinkled down at her. She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking back to her night in the forest. She whispered to herself while she remembered.

"Once, there was a maiden who looked to the stars,

In their heavenly dance she saw many answers,

And many more questions,

Then one night, the stars grew silent,

'Why me?' She asked, again and again,

'What now?' She cried in desperation,

But the stars could not answer her,

For her Fate was her own."

There was something hiding in there too. But figuring out the poem was even harder. If it was true, then why wasn't she getting any answers from the stars? She wasn't asking "why me?". It was more like "What are you? What're you doing?".

"That's a really pretty poem."

"Grah, Yang!" Ruby jumped up and turned around. Yang was leaning on the window behind her. She was grinning and holding a half-eaten skewer of meat.

"Dad sent me to get you. Dinner's ready and it is good!" She tore a piece of meat off and pointed the stick at Ruby. The younger girl giggled and slipped into the window. She could worry about weird poems later.

"Race you there!" She yelled and took off.

"Oh, you're on!"


	2. Chapter 1-2

This arrival at Beacon was a lot nicer than the first or the second. They came in on a huge airship that circled the campus and gave everyone an amazing view of the ocean. Though not everyone on board seemed to appreciate that part. Yang hoped the guy who got sick was going to be ok, but if he couldn't take something like that he probably shouldn't be here. Or maybe he got sick because he was so excited? Who really knew?

She was excited to be here. There'd be new people to meet and fight. Yang didn't like to brag too much, but she was one of the best in her class at Signal. They started doing two on ones just to make it fair. Beacon was a big ocean full of the best and she could hardly wait to see what they had. After all, a new friend was just one punch away.

A silly grin made its way to her face while she looked around. There were some fine people walking by and a wonderful view to appreciate. Ruby was even checking them out too, eyes roving over the crowd while she bounced in place.

"Ohh, sis. Look at him!" Ruby grabbed Yang's shoulder and pointed to a tall boy with a meteor hammer wrapped tightly around his waist. He was built and dressed to show it off: dark vest, tight pants, white shirt a size too small. All around beefcake. Also that swagger, he knew what he was about. "Also, over there and there. Just, oh so cool."

This one was around Yang's height with long black hair. A lot thinner than the first one, but damn was he graceful. Though given how the redhead next to him was acting, she was pretty sure her sister wouldn't have a chance. She kept bouncing around and prodding him, nearly hitting the boy with the handle of her fancy warhammer. He wasn't reacting badly to any of it either. Yeah, Ruby wouldn't be able to stand up to that.

Yang sighed and shook her head. She was so glad that her sister was this excited to see people. There was a long running joke between her friends that Ruby'd wind up marrying her scythe. It was a little mean. Although, since she kept calling it her sweetheart, Yang could hardly say there wasn't a grain of truth there. "Come on sis you'll have plenty of time to talk to them later."

"Yeah, I gue-" Ruby stopped mid-turn, eyes going wide. She actually cooed at whoever caught her sight, "Beautiful."

"What're you talking-" Yang turned around and froze as well. She whistled softly and looked from the other girl, to her sister, and back again. "Woah!"

"Those curves, so nice. Do you think-no that can't be it. How do you think she..." Ruby was babbling to herself, gaze transfixed on the girl's hips.

Yang gulped and looked at a starry eyed Ruby. She laughed and grinned awkwardly, "Uhhh… Well, I didn't know that about you sis, but wow! Good choice, I approve!"

The girl who'd caught her sister's eyes was short and a bit thin, but moved with an assurance that Yang had only seen on TV before. Her looks were also flawless. Well ok, the scar on her left eye could be called a flaw, but it accentuated her face instead of looking out of place. She kept the asymmetry going with a side ponytail that brought her look back to, well, perfection. The matching jacket, dress, and super high-heeled boots just made the impression even stronger. Yang was hot and she loved dressing the part, but at her best she might've matched what this girl did seemingly effortlessly.

"She must've been worked on a lot. What sort of…" Ruby continued mumbling to herself while Yang connected the dots. Every person that Ruby'd pointed out had one thing in common.

She sighed and mumbled into her hand, "Oh god. You're talking about her sword aren't you? You've been looking at their weapons this entire time."

"Uhh, yeah what else would I be talking about? I mean, you can see this right? Her rapier, it's, it's just..." Yang cut off Ruby's gushing with a tight hug.

"Aww. And here I thought my baby sister was growing up." Yang nuzzled Ruby's head and moved her hands to Ruby's arms, making sure she had a good grip.

"Grah, Yang stop it." Ruby struggled a little, but was no match for Yang's hugging ability. It took her a little while to realize that she was held super tight. And then she froze. "Yang, what're you doing?" There was just a hint of worry in Ruby's voice.

"I'm gonna help you make a new friend."

"What? No, I don't need any new friends. I have you!"

"Hmm, nope!" Yang grinned and picked Ruby up off the ground. The redhead shook as fast as she could. She tried valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to break free. "You need to meet new people and I'd be a terrible sister if I let you pass up this chance."

"Yang, no I-" Yang spun around once and let her sister go, sending her flying at the girl in a tight spiral. Then she dashed off into the crowd. Ruby would need to leave her comfort zone eventually; this was just giving her a head start.

* * *

Ruby was used to being in the air, her combat style almost required it. But it was never like this!

If she had it her way, she'd have Crescent Rose ready and use the recoil to fire herself in another direction. Instead, Yang's aim was on target and she was sailing right at the rapier girl!

No, she wouldn't have her first meeting with someone start by crashing into them!

Ruby twisted, pushed against the air, and forced herself left, bending around the girl. Her ponytail got swept up in the movement and time seemed like it slowed down as she turned to the side. Ruby met her eyes and smiled sheepishly before slapping the ground with a hand to stop her fall. The cobblestones cracked as she channeled her Aura down and pushed herself above the girl's luggage. Ruby brought her knees up and flipped in the air over and over. She landed on her feet, in a low stance, and let out the breath she'd been holding.

"What was that?" Ruby winced and turned around slowly only to find a glare as icy as the shout's tone. The other girl had her arms crossed and seemed to be barely holding back from yelling even louder, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You see, I was looking at you and my sister Yang, she just sort of picked me up and threw me and… meep." How someone shorter than her could loom over her like that Ruby didn't know, but this girl was as scary as she was pretty. Still she was here now, so she had to at least try to make her into a friend. There had to be some way to explain all of this, maybe just being honest? Honesty was the right answer, right?

"I'm really sorry that that happened. My sister thought that throwing me at you would be a good way for me to make new friends. I didn't want to do anything like that and-" The girl's gaze narrowed with every word that came out of Ruby's mouth. Honesty betrayed her! There was only one thing left to do. One problem, she didn't know how to do it.

In the back of her mind, Ruby had been thinking about what happened when she met with Professor Ozpin. The intense pressure bearing down on her then was back. She focused on that feeling again and thought very loudly. _Forgive me, please forgive me._

Again it seemed like the world shifted without actually moving. In that instant the girl's glare also softened, though it wasn't gone. Ruby smiled and held out a hand.

"And, hi my name is Ruby. I really like your rapier, it's super-awesome. Please don't hurt me." She waited for a few seconds before pulling her hand back. "Ok we're not quite there yet."

"No, no we aren't. But," She laid her hand on her rapier's hilt and tapped a finger against the pommel, "what were you saying about my sword?"

Ruby's smile brightened and she shook her hands in front of her chest in excitement. "Ohhh, I could tell how much love went into her just by looking. Umm, she is a she right?"

"Uhh, sure..." Whatever the girl was expecting, that wasn't it.

"Anyway, I saw just how fine the etching was and the quality of the metal. The dust injector's gotta also be very well fitted to work with such a narrow blade. On top of all of that there's the metal." Ruby's eyes were sparkling even more now. "I didn't know you could use such a highly infused steel and not interfere with the dust channels."

The girl settled into a smug grin while Ruby gushed. She spoke up when Ruby had to take a breath, "The channels are coiled Orichalcum to enable the Dust to be used at its full potency. They're protected in a core of Moonsilver," Her smile widened as Ruby oohed and awed, "It provides a barrier against the interference while maintaining the blade's flexibility."

"How did you work it? I've read about how hard Moonsilver is to keep in a stable shape and it sounds really exciting to use, but we never had enough at Signal to really do anything with it. And Orichalum would be even worse, we didn't have any tools that could scratch it." She waited for a moment, bouncing on her heels. "So, come on, how'd you do it?"

"I didn't built it. I provided the specifications and sent the order to engineering to be designed and constructed."

"Engineering, but… What?" Ruby glanced at the girl's luggage. A familiar snowflake symbol was on all of her suitcases; it was also on the back of her jacket. Ruby had a toothpaste tube with the same symbol, but there was no way a toothpaste company would have an engineering department. Or maybe she just meant a special weapons engineer? That would still mean that she'd need to have a lot of money though. Well if she could use materials like that she needed to have that anyway. Ruby pursed her lips and looked at the girl again. "Who are you?"

The girl smirked. "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Dust Company? Ohhh, that makes much more sense than a toothpaste company." Ruby nodded sagely.

Weiss sighed, "That one would be my cousin Ivory." She shook her head before continuing. "So Ruby, what Engineering School are you going to go to? You're a smart kid with a very good eye if you could pick all of that out from sight alone. I could put in a good word for you if you're looking for an internship in a few years. Maybe even find some work for whoever in your family's going to Beacon."

"I, what?" Ruby quirked her head to the side puzzled, "But, I'm going to Beacon to be a Huntress."

"What? You? You have to be like fourteen. How could you get into Beacon?"

"I'm fifteen, thank you very much, and I got invited by Professor Ozpin himself." Ruby crossed her arms and pointed to a gear shaped pin on her cape. "He even gave me this special pin to show to people to prove it."

"Right," Weiss said, drawing the word out far more than necessary, "the Headmaster of the most prestigious combat school in Vale directly invited a fifteen year old weapons nut."

"Uh-huh." Ruby nodded.

"Color me," Weiss paused and twirled her hand as if she was searching for the right word, "skeptical."

She brought her hands to her hips and loomed again. "If you're going to lie about something, at least make it plausible. If you're really going to Beacon, what did you get on the entrance exam? Do you know your Aura fundamentals? How many targets did you take out in the combat test?"

"What? But I- There were no tests!" Ruby was at loss for words. She was supposed to be here! Professor Ozpin said that she could show that to anyone when she got to class and they'd let her in even if they forgot her.

"Actually, her story is plausible." Ruby spun around to find another girl right behind her. She had a cleaver-gun that had a ribbon tied to it. She was pale, had yellow eyes, and black hair with a bow on top of her head. Oh wait no Ruby was wrong, it was a chain-sword that was also a gun! "People learn at different paces. She had the reflexes to dodge not only you, but also your enormous pile of luggage."

Weiss glanced at Ruby then locked eyes with the new girl. "Fine, so she has the reflexes. But this is a serious combat school. Just being fast won't cut it."

The other girl shook her head and turned away. She took a few steps before pausing. Ruby could feel the pressure again, but she had no idea what it was from. This girl was trying to help her, but she didn't know why. "People have been learning to fight without schools for ages. After all, not everyone can buy an expensive education with money taken from the sweat of others."

"What! How dare-" Weiss shouted and paused. "What are you implying?" Her voice grew cold as her hand moved towards her rapier. But, she didn't draw.

The new girl met Ruby's eyes, smiled slightly, nodded, and then turned away again. Ruby, didn't know what she meant by that at all though. Why did she smile? She was a complete stranger; did she want to be friends too? Also, her explanation was good, but wrong. She coughed before speaking, "Umm, Weiss?"

Ruby resisted wincing when Weiss turned her glare back toward her. "Don't worry about that, she was wrong. I did go to a combat school and was the best in my class at sparring. I was also the best at weapons design."

She smiled brightly and warmed Weiss's glare ever so slightly. The girl huffed and let go of her sword, "That's not what I was worried about. She was three words off of quoting an early White Fa-"

Weiss frowned as she looked at the chain-sword girl again. She was walking away slowly, the tails of her vest swishing back and forth. Though Weiss seemed more focused on her bow. Which wasn't moving nearly as much, except when the wind caught it and one side bounced.

"Never mind." Weiss shook her head.

"Before, all of that," She tapped the pommel of her rapier as she spoke, "You were asking me about Myrtenaster's construction. We don't have the time right now, but we can talk more about that later. I'd like to hear what you did with yours as well."

"Really?!" Ruby shook with excitement. No one had ever asked her about that before, besides her teachers and her dad, and that one guy in advanced weapon-smithing who wanted her to help him with the extender for his dagger. She'd put so much work into Crescent Rose and all she ever got from anyone else was a "Sure, that's cool." when she talked with them about it.

"Yes, but for now I need to get to orientation." Weiss nodded to Ruby and walked away, an old man in a suit pushing her luggage behind her. He just had a small pistol in his jacket pocket, boring.

"OK. I'll see you later Weiss!" Ruby shouted and waved. She'd managed to do it, she made a new friend! Well, maybe she did. Weiss was the first new person she'd really talked to since the thing happened. The chain-sword girl might be also, though Ruby was less sure she'd remember her. She hadn't even gotten that girl's name or given hers. All she could do was hope at this point.

Ruby wasn't quite ready to go to the big ceremony yet so she glanced around for any other interesting things, but couldn't find any that stuck out. There was a girl hugging her dad, who just has a basic shot-spear; a boy toting around what looked like a guitar case, which could be hiding an axe; and another guy was about to walk into a bench with a really old looking straight sword. Ruby wasn't sure, but it might've been from the late colorless period going by the cross guard. If it was, then it might be a lot better than she thought.

He hit the bench right on the knee. Ruby winced as he tipped forward and fell over it, right into a bush. The poor guy screamed like a girl and flailed wildly until a redheaded girl pulled him out. She also had a beauty, a very complex multi-weapon that had lance and gun modes at least. His edges were gilded with Orichalcum, but the rest was steel. Really high quality steel. Oh the things she could do with Crescent Rose if she could get metal like that.

This girl also had equally fancy armor and a nice tiara, but Ruby hadn't spent a lot of time on armor design so she wasn't sure if they were good or just for show.

Ruby gulped, took a deep breath, and walked up to them. "Umm, hi there. Are you ok?"

The boy shook his head back and forth quickly, blowing a leaf out of his mouth in the process. "I think so. I saw an angel and..." He looked off in the direction Weiss left and sighed.

"Sorry, thank you, both of you." He stood up straight and grinned in a way that seemed a lot like Ruby's dad, but the dirt on his cheek ruined the image. "I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc."

The other girl nodded and folded her hands in front of her. "Pyrrha Nikos, I'm glad you're ok Jaune."

"Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."


	3. Chapter 1-3

Ruby followed a few steps behind Jaune and Pyrrha while they talked about their favorite TV shows. It was mostly Jaune doing the talking, he'd watched so much Ruby could hardly believe it. Pyrrha was just nodding along and occasionally commenting. Ruby was more of a music and books girl so there wasn't anything she could really contribute to the conversation. But, thanks to the show he was on, she finally had her chance.

Jaune was talking about his favorite character in some fantasy show who used a pure Dust blade and describing how he would alter the length mid strike to ensure his attack hit home. Ruby skipped forward with a quick burst of her Semblance, looping around his left, and interrupted him, "Hey Jaune!"

"Ahh, Ruby where'd you?" He yelped and held a hand to his chest while he caught his breath. He glanced back only to see the flurry of rose petals she left in her wake.

"So about really cool swords. What sort of awesome things does yours do?"

"Huh?" He smiled awkwardly and looked to Pyrrha, who looked just as confused. He pulled it out and looked at the blade a bit. "It's a sword and it uhh, cuts things?"

"No, I mean special techniques or powers." Ruby pointed to the handle. "He's gotta be really old, at least one hundred years, right?"

"Yeah, my great-great grandpa used it to fight. Grandpa did to. Dad didn't though. He's more of a mace guy," Jaune said as Pyrrha's eyes lit up.

"Ruby, are you talking about the soul of his sword?" Pyrrha stepped in and waited for Ruby to nod before continuing, "In Mistral, there are a number of Hunters who focus on intertwining their Aura with their weapons. These weapons are later passed down to their apprentice, who does the same, infusing the weapon with themselves and strengthening both. As time passes, the weapon will take on its own character and become more than just a blade."

Jaune nodded along, gulping before he responded, "That sounds pretty cool. So, how would you do this soul mixing thing then?"

"We were taught to connect with our weapons through meditation. To empty ourselves and focus purely on feeling the pulse of the world. Then let your Aura seep out and connect to it."

Ruby chimed in, "At Signal we all built our own weapons. We pushed our Aura into each piece and at the end everything just felt right, like your weapon was an extension of your arm."

"Right, but," Jaune rubbed the side of his neck and looked right between them, "how do you do all of that? This pushing your Aura thing."

"It's, it's just like you do when you're fighting. Like, when you push yourself into the ground harder to jump or get this tingly feeling in your belly that something's gonna happen." Ruby paused between each phrase, trying to figure out the right way to describe it. She hadn't needed to think about how she used her Aura for years.

She bit her lip and looked back up at Jaune. He had a scrape below his left ear that he was avoiding touching. That should've healed by now. "Jaune, your ear's hurt. Do you not have your Aura awakened?"

"Uhh, yeah. Why? Do you have yours?" His ignorance was displayed all over his face.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha and bit her lip. The other girl smiled and shook her head slightly.

"Jaune, most junior combat schools unlock their students Auras as part of their first year. Assuming they haven't already had the ritual performed while they were younger that is. If you got into Beacon without this happening..." Pyrrha paused and Jaune gulped. "Then you must have done something very impressive."

"I… yeah," Jaune looked down to the ground and shrugged. For a little while the three of them stood there, each waiting for someone to do something to break the silence.

Jaune spoke up first, "So, do either of you know how to do that unlocking thing? It sounds pretty, um, important."

"We all learned how to, but I've never really done it," Ruby grinned and laughed slightly. She'd been told, again and again, that none of them were supposed to just go around awakening Auras. So, she never bothered remembering exactly how the ritual went. Also, it was supposed to hurt a lot if you messed it up. She'd try. Jaune was here at Beacon, so there shouldn't be a problem with it, and he looked pretty tough. Thankfully, Pyrrha saved her.

"Don't worry. I'm very familiar with it. There were several important ceremonies where I was asked unlock the Auras of the incoming fighters." Pyrrha looked away and blushed. She giggled and turned back to Jaune. "Just close your eyes and concentrate."

"Uhhh, ok." He glanced at Ruby before nodding to Pyrrha. His hands were balled tightly.

Pyrrha stepped close to Jaune and placed one hand on the side of his head, the other over his heart. With a nod, they both closed their eyes and took slow breaths. Jaune calmed down, letting his arms hang free. One, two, three: they were in sync. Ruby could feel the energy gathering around them as Pyrrha began to softly glow. There was more than just that though.

Ruby closed her eyes and listened as Pyrrha began.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," Her words echoed off of the cobblestones, ringing into the air in a continuous hum.

"Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all." It grew louder, like a speaker playing a rising intro. She could hear a second beat, a smooth undercurrent of vibrations that flowed from Pyrrha.

"Infinite in distance and unbound by death." The second sound grew stronger and stronger. A stream of beats quickly becoming a river.

"I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee," Her voice faded, but her soul erupted into a symphony of sounds. Each hummed in tune as they stretched into the sky. Then a second wave joined them, deeper and softer. And yet, the two harmonized despite their differences. The same notes in a different key, the louder leading the softer skyward.

Ruby continued listening as the waves echoed away, ending in a soft tinkling high in the sky. She opened her eyes to Pyrrha pulling away. Wisps of her red Aura swirled into nothingness with Jaune's white one as the crimson chords binding them faded.

Jaune blinked a few times while Pyrrha caught her breath. He turned his hands over, staring as the glow of his Aura vanished. "Woah."

Pyrrha stood back up and smiled. "That feeling is your soul's protection." His cut quickly closed in a flash of light.

"If you want to feel something really interesting," Pyrrha's smile grew wider and she leaned forward slightly, "Try drawing your sword again."

Jaune touched the handle of his sword, recoiling once, before gripping it tightly. "It's a little warm, but not in a bad way."

"That warmth is what we were speaking about before." Pyrrha reached forward slightly, hesitated, and brought her hand back to her side. "With practice, you should be able to learn from it and make it your own."

Jaune nodded and looked off to the side for a moment. Then his gaze went back to Pyrrha, though he couldn't meet her eyes. He blinked a few times and turned to the road again. "Uhh, thanks and, uhh, we should probably, umm,"

"Yes we shouldn't be late." Pyrrha's smile fell when she turned to Ruby. Who was like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and posture rigid. "Ruby are you alright?"

"Uh huh," Ruby mumbled while she finished processing what she'd just experienced. It only hit her at the end that that had been a very different ritual than she'd expected. Her's was more like "wham, bam, here's your Aura." There was no long chant. There was no music. Music that she could tell the color of for some reason. It was just a normal thing. "I'm good, I just… umm... haven't watched it like that before."

Pyrrha turned away, her cheeks burning. "Ahh, right. Well. Let's get going then."

"Yeah." Ruby turned stiffly and walked forward, still lost in thought. Music didn't have colors. And even if it did, why would she only hear it now? She closed her eyes again and listened to the world's song. It was tough because Jaune's drumming overwhelmed all of the lamps. The steady, white pulse drowned out everything else. Why was he doing that so much and what was it? She and Pyrrha weren't, but they knew how to control their Aura and this was the same color as Jaune's.

Ruby focused her Aura down. A pure red string resounded with each step. As soon as she stopped using her Aura, the sound also stopped. She could hear people's Auras…

A shiver ran down her spine. This was so cool and also maybe really, really bad.

* * *

By the time they reached the auditorium, Ruby was mostly better. She was still shocked, but had herself more under control. She was walking normally and, more importantly, was hearing normally. She caught sight of Yang waving to her and quickly spoke to Jaune and Pyrrha, "Uhh, I'll see you guys later."

She skipped to her sister's right with a quick burst of her Semblance. Ruby pointed right at Yang's face, but didn't get the first word in. "Well somebody looks excited. So, what happened?"

"I dodged the girl that you threw me at!"

"And?" Yang stretched the word out with a silly grin on her face.

"And she was really mad at me." Ruby gave Yang a look, but the blond just kept grinning. There was no trace of guilt on her face whatsoever.

Sighing, Ruby stopped pretending to be madder than she was, "But then I asked her about Myrtenaster and she got a lot nicer."

"Myrtenaster? Who's that?"

"Her sword."

"Really? You- Wait, you started talking about her sword and that made her happy?"

"Yeah, we talked about her materials and design. Weiss worked both Moonsilver and Orichalcum into her! They're in a pretty complex arrangement if the image I'm picturing is right," Yang's posture sunk lower and lower while Ruby explained what happened, "And that's not even the best part. After we argued about me belonging here, she asked about Crescent Rose!"

"I- wow. Ruby I never expected you to find someone else, er, just like you. That's great!"

"I know, it's so cool," Ruby grinned and bounced in place.

"Well, I'm glad you made a friend. But..." Yang bit her lip, looked from Ruby to the crowd, and leaned in. She whispered, "When you came in you also looked kinda nervous. Did something else happen?"

Ruby gulped. Of course Yang would notice something like that. She glanced around, looking for anyone who might be too close. They were surrounded by people who didn't seem like they were listening, but that could change at a moments notice. "Umm, kinda."

Yang's eyes briefly flashed with mischief before settling back to a worry. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Yes! I mean no, I mean-" The sound of a mic being turned on cut her off.

Professor Ozpin stepped up to the podium and coughed. Before he started talking, Ruby whispered to a now very worried Yang, "I'll tell you after."

"I'll keep this brief." Ozpin adjusted his glasses before continuing, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ruby nodded along as he spoke. He was looking over the crowd and paused when he saw her. She could barely make it out, but his brow furrowed briefly before going back to that unreadable mask.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step. Though you should remember..." He paused once more, briefly taking on a regretful expression. "People may not be all that they seem. You must be careful. Danger can appear in the most surprising of places."

A shiver ran down Ruby's spine that refused to go away when Ozpin finished. Professor Glynda Goodwitch was announcing what where they would go next, but she wasn't paying attention. She was too focused on Professor Ozpin as he walked away, on what he said now and what he'd told her before.

"That was, uhh something. He seemed kinda not there, until the end... Now about that thing." Yang nudged Ruby and nodded her head towards the door. Ruby glanced back to the stage more and stopped. There was something else she needed to do first.

"Yang, hold on. I'll be right there." Ruby moved against the crowd, pushing her way between people until she was towards the front. The chain-sword girl from earlier was there. She was watching people move while waiting, probably for everyone else to get out.

Ruby slowly approached from the crowd and waved. "Umm, hello again."

The girl blinked and frowned before responding, "Hello. Do I know you?"

"Not really, I'm actually not surprised that you don't remember me, but you tried to help me this morning and you were kinda just waiting here and I wanted to say thanks," Ruby spoke increasingly fast.

"Umm, what?" The girl just looked Ruby over, eyes darting back and forth. She ended by shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person."

"Sorry, that's my Semblance, it makes people about forget me." Ruby winced. The girl's eyes narrowed as soon as she lied. Yang thought she'd be able to get away with claiming that since Professor Ozpin said it too. "Uhh, it was when Weiss was being mean and said that I wasn't supposed to be in Beacon. You said something about my speed and her education being taken from someone's sweat. I wasn't really sure what you meant, but it convinced her. Or at least it made her stop yelling."

"I did distract Weiss Schnee when she was yelling at someone earlier today, but you don't look anything like the girl who…" She looked at Ruby, frowning again, but not in a bad way. Now she just looked confused. Her eyes were locked on Ruby's face, twitching slightly to follow every movement.

"Like I said, people forget about me. Even when they shouldn't." Ruby gulped and hoped that the staring would stop soon. When it didn't, she stepped forward and held out her hand. "Anyway I'm Ruby and thanks again. I was hoping that you'd want to be friends. Maybe if you have my name it'll be easier next time?"

Ruby had been expecting what was coming next and pushed against the world without missing a beat. It shifted and the girl took her hand after a moment's thought. She gave Ruby one good shake, but didn't stop staring. "Blake and... sure."

"Nice to meet you Blake." Ruby smiled and leaned slightly to her left. Blake's eyes tracked her, looking just above her own. "Umm, do I have something on my face?"

Ruby rubbed her hand from her nose to her forehead, trying to wipe away anything that might've gotten stuck to her.

"No, it's just… I-" Blake paused and bit her lip before continuing, "I like your hair?"

"Uhh, thank you?" Ruby half smiled and looked over her shoulder.

"Umm, let's go catch up to everyone else?" Ruby was back to the awkward grin when she realized they were the only ones still in the auditorium. Blake nodded and started walking.

"Sure."

* * *

Yang left with the crowd and waited right outside of the door for Ruby. She leaned on the wall and crossed her arms, keeping watch for the moment her sister left. While she waited, she couldn't help tapping on her side and checking for any other familiar faces. Something was up. Well, something had been up since Ruby came home with all of this strangeness, but something was really up now.

Ruby'd been more reserved and secretive ever since the fight in the woods. Yang had pushed her for more details once, but she went quiet after the part where the last Beowolf died. Her sister was never this careful about anything, even when she was asked to keep a secret. If there was one thing Ruby could be counted on, it was being straightforward and honest.

She dug her nails into her palm. Something had made Ruby so worried that she took it this seriously, and there really weren't any good options for what that might be. Or maybe, someone was the source of it?

She scanned the crowd for the people she'd seen her with before.

First was the girl she tossed Ruby at, who somehow looked a little paler than she had earlier. If they were anywhere else, Yang would've just pulled her aside, but that'd be weird right now. It'd draw way too much attention. Also, considering Ruby's reactions she probably didn't cause that weirdness. But, it wouldn't hurt to check later.

The blond boy and red headed girl who Ruby came in with followed a little bit later. Nothing was off with them either. They were just talking about Aura and weapons, so there was a connection. If her sister heard them, she'd probably join in. However, neither of them looked like they'd do anything bad to her.

Finally, the girl Ruby went over to talk to stepped out. She was a little on edge while she moved, always scanning around herself. Yang met her eyes, a piercing yellow. For a second they sized each other up. Stance, weapons, physique: she took all of them in. Yang wasn't sure she could win a fight against her, which was weird by itself, but that didn't matter now since Ruby stepped out right on the other girl's heels.

Her sister was smiling, but looked at the ground once she noticed Yang was there. The other girl stopped and turned around.

"Uhh, you keep going Blake. I need to talk to my sister." Ruby nervously giggled. Blake also looked at Yang, who sighed in response. She stepped off the wall and smiled.

"Don't worry. I just need to talk to this goof about making me worried, then running off." Yang shrugged and let out a mental breath when the other girl relaxed. Whatever was bugging Ruby, she didn't want to talk about it where someone could overhear.

After a few moments, Blake nodded. "I'll see you later."

Yang waited for her to be a pretty good distance away before speaking, "Alright sis. What was that about?"

"Well..." Ruby nudged the path with her boot and didn't look at Yang. "She kinda helped me out earlier so I wanted to say thanks, but she didn't remember me."

Yang pulled Ruby into a hug again and gave her a pat on the back. "Is that all you're worried about? We'll figure out a way through all that. Even if it takes putting up pictures and sticky notes all over the place to remind people."

Ruby laughed emptily and joined in the hug. "Thanks, but it isn't just that."

Yang gave her a few moments before prodding her in the side. "Come on. What's bothering you?"

Ruby pulled away and took a long look all around them. Yang could feel her nerves firing up again.

"After talking to Weiss I listened to someone's Aura being unlocked," Ruby started slowly.

"That's nothing new. We were both there when Ms. Blan did her poke you in the forehead thing."

"No, not like that." Ruby shook her head and looked around again. "I really listened this time and I heard… things."

Yang clenched her fists. "Things..."

"Sounds, music, but not normal music. It was the ritual and..." Ruby gulped and paused. Yang could feel every muscle in her body tense while her sister continued scanning their surroundings. "And… I think it was also their Auras, mine too."

"Ruby that's-" Yang paused and hissed while she took a quick breath. "That's not possible. It's not something people can just do. Unless it-"

"-Their Semblance," Ruby finished the sentence, her voice too cold. Ruby was a smart cookie and if she could do something like that then there was no way she'd be able to ignore the other signs. "Yang?"

Yang gulped and forced herself to look less tense, it wasn't easy. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going. "Yes Ruby?"

"Yang, am I-" Ruby was absent-mindedly stroking Crescent Rose. "Am I a monster?"

Yang felt her heart beat in her throat.

"Ruby no!" Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby again and held her tight. "You're not a monster!"

"But I have more than one Semblance and-"

"No!" Yang cut her off, "Ruby you're my brilliant little sister and you're going to be an amazing Huntress."

She pulled back and lifted her sister's chin up. Ruby's eyes were glistening at the edges, but full of a dangerous fire. She'd always wanted to be a Huntress, to help people and save the world. Yang didn't know what Ruby would do if she thought she was a danger to everyone, but she didn't want to find out.

She could see her sister's fire still in there. All she needed to do was apply the right pressure. "What did they teach us back at Signal? The one sign that's always there. The one they even tell civilians to look out for."

"Silver or gold?"

"Right. And what color are you?"

"...Red."

"Professor Ozpin said there wasn't a problem, right? Do you think he'd just let you in like this if he wasn't sure?"

"No," The fire had reached Ruby's voice.

"No way he'd do something like that."

Ruby was giggling and smiling again. She wiped the corners of her eyes on her sleeve. "Thanks Yang. I'm sorry, I was just worried because of hearing that stuff and what he said in that speech."

"Hey, what're sisters for?" Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulders again and started walking. She smiled down at her sister with a knot in her stomach. "Though, you probably shouldn't tell anyone else about hearing these things. You never know what they'd do."

Ruby sighed, "Yeah."

"Come on, let's go get some sleep."

As they left, Yang caught a glimpse of the setting sun. She pushed the butterflies down and thought. You're not a monster Ruby.


	4. Chapter 1-4

The following morning, they were brought to a cliff overlooking Beacon's Emerald Forest.

Professor Ozpin told them their objective: to find their partner and a relic by traveling through the forest. They would face great danger and would be expected to take care of themselves. The forest was teeming with Grimm of all shapes and sizes.

Each student was to move carefully and stealthily. Also, be prepared to fight for their lives against the Grimm. Their partner would be the first person who they met the eyes of. He did not tell them how their final teams would be decided.

The danger they would face, along with the need for discretion and teamwork due to the number of Grimm in the forest, was emphasized.

Then, he launched them off the cliff from spring loaded panels.

* * *

"This will be an interesting class once the pairings are decided."

Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin stood on the edge of the cliff, watching as their students sailed through the air. Each had a scroll connected to the camera drones following each student.

"Mmh," Professor Ozpin watched them land without meaningfully responding. After a minute, only two hadn't touched down.

"Five of the thirteen who threw up flags for investigation are in this group. Unfortunately, three have already been tested once," Professor Goodwitch said as she swapped her view to their two stragglers: Jaune Arc, who was woefully unprepared and had been pinned to a tree by Pyrrha Nikos throwing her weapon at him; and Yang Xiao Long, who was using dust shots to propel herself deeper into the forest. She'd also taken the largest leap at the beginning. Glynda shook her head. "Speaking of which, Miss Xiao Long seems to be trying to set a new distance record."

"She'll be hard pressed to beat her uncle." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and watched as she finally started descending. She was incredibly close to the final site. "He transformed and flew to the relics. Summer found him pretending to take a nap with one of them in hand."

"That is… unsurprising." Glynda shook her head. Convincing Qrow to do anything even by the letter of the rules was next to impossible, let alone the spirit of them. "That entire family seems to be cursed with unfortunate appearing Semblances. Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, and now Yang as well. Only Raven was spared."

"You could say that Ruby was spared as well." Ozpin smiled softly. One of the knowing grins that he was prone to whenever he wanted someone to figure something out on their own. It was a habit that had infuriated her when she was a student.

"Ruby?" Glynda wracked her mind for where she'd heard that name before. She knew that Taiyang and Summer had another child, but couldn't put a name or face to them. They were presumably in this group if Ozpin was mentioning them now, but which one. She went over the features and equipment of each student on her scroll before the memory snapped in place. "Ruby Rose, the student with the uncontrollable, memory-loss Semblance that you sent the all staff message about last week. She's wearing one of your pins."

After another moment of thought, Glynda sighed, "Of course. Her last name is the same as Summer's... Which was a surprisingly difficult observation to make."

"Considering that difficulty, we can only hope that she will find a partner who has the mental fortitude to keep her in mind." He glanced down when his scroll pinged.

Their scrolls would sound when two students got close enough that they might see each other. They received two in a row, then six more.

"Our first pairing, Cardin Winchester and Dove Bronzewing. The second will likely be Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladona." Glynda barely resisted groaning when she saw who the large set was. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc are all approaching each other as well."

It was coincidental beyond reason. Even if he'd tried to set this result up, Glynda was sure that Ozpin wouldn't have had anywhere near this degree of success. Two of them were practically a pair, and there was a good chance two more would be as well. With luck, they'd challenge and test each other enough to be removed from the list. Then nothing unfortunate would have to happen.

She looked at Ozpin, who was as inscrutable as ever, and then back to her scroll. A quick text confirmed that the other professors hiding in the forest had received their notifications as well. She hated having to do treat their students like, all of the professors did. But, it was better for people who hated the task to have to do it, than people who may enjoy it.

The first trial was the regular entrance exam, but it only gave them an idea of who to look into more closely. All too often, it took live combat and the risk of death to reveal the danger lurking in human clothing. And once it was revealed, they would do what needed to be done, the hardest job of an elite Hunter.

Someone needed to eliminate the Anathema before they could threaten the entire world.

* * *

Ruby slid to a stop before she got closer to the first person she heard. She'd been hoping to find Yang and be partners with her sister; it would be nice and easy. They'd fought together before and worked really well as a team. But because Yang flew off when they got launched, that wasn't very likely.

Thankfully, she was pretty sure she knew who was up ahead just going by the sounds their heels made when they stepped. It was probably Weiss or Pyrrha; Ruby would be happy to be partners with either of them. She also heard Jaune yelling from really high up, and while he didn't seem like he'd be great in a fight, he was pretty nice and kinda funny. Though Pyrrha probably wanted to find him first.

She stopped and listened again. There was another person walking nearby. Both of the people moving had heels, though one made sharper sounds when she stepped. She was pushing through the buses. The other was cutting more, but mostly avoiding them. Pyrrha had a better sword for cutting so that might be her.

Ruby took a deep breath. The sounds of the forest faded away as the music of the world took over. It was faint, but she could pick out Weiss, even from this far away. Her music was calmer than last night when she and Blake spent awhile looking at each other from across the room.

With a burst from her Semblance, Ruby rushed towards Weiss. She stopped just outside of the clearing that the white haired girl was standing in. This was the moment of truth. Could anyone else remember her?

Weiss's eyes narrowed briefly. Ruby gulped and waved at her, "Umm, hi."

After a long pause, Weiss nodded. "I could do worse. Let's go Ruby." She turned away while Ruby squealed with joy. She dashed over to the other girl and wrapped her arms around her.

"You remember me!" Ruby lifted Weiss just barely off the ground and spun in circles. Her cape whipped behind her, leaving a whirlwind of petals surrounding them.

"Hey! Ruby, what're you doing?" Weiss struggled as soon as she realized what was happening. She tried, unsuccessfully, to shake herself free. She couldn't get any leverage thanks to her heels dragging against the grass. "Do you know where we are? Let go of me this instant!"

An elbow to the face sent both girls tumbling down, but Ruby just kept smiling. Everything would be ok now! "I'm... it's just… You remembered my name!"

"Of course I did, you dolt!" Weiss staggered to her feet. "Why wouldn't I remember you considering how we met?"

Ruby giggled from the ground, watching the petals that trailed her fall. "People just sort of forget about me. It's kind of my Semblance."

Weiss caught a petal and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, my dad didn't recognize me when I first came home. He thought I was one of Yang's friends trying to sneak in and almost threw me out of the house. The same thing happened the next night. And the morning after."

"That." Weiss picked up her rapier, which she'd dropped in the struggle. "Sounds like it was very difficult."

"But, that's all better now. Because we're partners!" Ruby flipped herself to her feet and raised her hand for a high five.

Weiss just crossed her arms and tapped her foot. The frigid glare was back again. Ruby took a hissed breath and pulled back.

"Ok, yeah I'll be serious." She peered off into the distance and drew Crescent Rose in light-rifle mode. The Grimm were close enough that she didn't need any extra stability. They'd been stalking, moving silently and using the bushes to stay below her sight-line. She and Weiss were almost surrounded.

Ruby took aim at the nearest grouping while Weiss rolled her eyes and started walking towards the bushes. "Now you'll be serious? Just by drawing your gun? Look I'm sure you can-"

Ruby fired four times, blasting holes in the plants right next to Weiss. Three startled yips were accompanied by bits of black, red, and white flying into the air as the Beowolves' heads exploded. Howls sounded around them. The survivor charged.

Weiss hopped back, narrowly avoiding the Beowolf's teeth. It burst from the brush with half of its mask missing, claws digging furrows into the ground when it caught itself. Before it could regain its balance, she lunged and skewered its head through the bullet wound. Five more shots rang out before Weiss got to Ruby's side.

"How many are there?" She kept her gaze on the bushes while Ruby unfolded her scythe. They stood back to back as the horde slowly emerged.

"Seven nearby. Another ten still coming." Ruby settled into a tail stance, scythe directly behind her. The heel of her blade was close to Weiss, but not in her way. Though, for some reason, the other girl still kept glancing at it rather than keeping her eyes on their enemies.

"You're not worried?" If Weiss was, her tone didn't show it. She kept her sword pointed high, alternating between the two closest to keep them at bay.

"Nah, I took out around thirty by myself two weeks ago." Ruby giggled and gripped Crescent Rose tighter. They were almost there.

"Thirty? That's a ridi-" Weiss was cut off by Ruby firing Crescent Rose.

"Go!" She shot forward, aiming right at the center of her group. The outermost Grimm's head flew off as she landed. The Beowolves turned to her, growling and circling just out of range. Crescent Rose laid on her shoulder while she waited. When two more came charging from the forest, they all rushed her.

Ruby threw her entire body behind her next swing and fired another round to gain more speed. She became a red and black blur, scythe lashing out. A moment later, all five Beowolves fell to the ground in a pile of severed pieces. None made it within three feet of her.

She could make out Weiss's shocked face before her partner turned away, engaging with her own group of Grimm.

* * *

Blake crept along the old stone wall, staying in the shadows, while Yang waited in the middle of the ruins. Her partner was ready for anything to come at her, sunk into her knees with her fists slightly open. On her belt was their relic, a golden knight.

Yang was turning constantly, keeping watch all around. She tried to keep her glances random, but there was still a pattern to how she moved. Once to the far left, back to center, and suddenly left again. As soon as she finished the snap, Blake moved.

She used a stone jutting out of the wall as a handhold to flip herself over it. The one patch of grass and dirt on the stone floor was her target, the perfect spot to land and avoid being heard.

She landed on one foot. Yang was starting to turn around again. Blake sank down and pushed off. She flipped in the air and landed right behind the blond. She tapped Yang on the neck at the same time that she slipped her prize from Yang's belt.

"Grahh," Yang's eyes flashed red as she shouted, "How do you keep doing that?"

Blake looked back to her path. She'd crossed around ten yards in less than a second, without being noticed. She smiled and gave Yang a hint. "You don't look up and back enough."

"I looked behind me just fine."

"Not really."

Yang brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. Then she leaned back and craned her head around, pushing against her cheek to move it a bit more. At the end, she would just barely have hit the right arc.

Yang rubbed the side of her neck after she turned back. "Yeah, I still don't see how you'd do that."

"Like this." Blake turned away from Yang. She crouched slightly, then turned her knees, hips, chest, and neck so that she could see behind her without losing her balance. "You need to move everything at once."

Yang tried to mimic the movement, but she couldn't quite bend all the way. After three attempts she pouted and sighed. "Ok, one more time. You're only getting to the count of five to hide though."

Blake tossed the relic back to Yang and got ready. This would be the fourth time they played this game since they reached the ruins. She snuck up on Yang in the forest and now the other girl insisted on doing this until she caught Blake creeping up on her. There were so many gaps in Yang's defense, they could be here until nightfall before she succeeded.

But, it was a fun enough way to pass the time.

"Ok ready?" Yang covered her eyes and was about to start counting when more heavy rifle shots sounded from the forest. They'd been going on for a while now, slowly drawing closer to the ruins.

"Yang, I think we should wait." Blake turned her head towards the shots. She couldn't make anything out visually, but heard the growls and yips following each shot. There were a lot of Beowolves chasing whoever was doing that.

A piercing cry sounded from their other side along with tremors in the ground. Then, a series of explosions from between the two, these ones with the roar of an Ursa in response. Blake pulled her blade off her back and got ready for the Grimm to descend upon them. Yang punched her palm and rolled her shoulders, deploying her gauntlets.

Before anything else could happen though, the gunshots stopped. Moments later, a small girl in a red cloak burst from the bushes, swinging her enormous scythe into the ground to stop herself. She turned around and blew her bangs out of her face. The girl waved at them. "Hi Yang!"

Yang giggled and relaxed. She waved back to the girl. "Hey sis! You got this?"

"Yep." The girl turned back to the bushes and aimed. She fired her weapon so quickly that the next shot was in the air before the shells from the first two hit the ground. Each one was punctuated by a roar and the sound of a body falling. She was smiling as she fired again and again.

"Weiss, jump!" She shouted during a brief pause. Blake thought back to the previous day; the girl in red knew Weiss Schnee and she'd helped a girl like that before. It took her a moment, but the name came to mind.

"Ruby," Blake whispered to herself. She turned to Yang. "Your sister. Her name's Ruby isn't it?"

Yang whistled and turned to respond, keeping one eye on her sister, "Yeah... That was quick. You got her even faster than dad did."

"She's fairly memorable. I didn't believe her when she explained what her Semblance was at first." She'd never heard about anything like that before. Yang also winced as soon as she mentioned it. "Though…"

Blake paused when Ruby dropped her first magazine to the ground, reloading in record time. Three more shots, then she stopped. "Considering how she's moving, I'd say something relating to speed would be more likely."

"Heheh, yeah. It's kinda weird, but you know how those things are." There it was again, that tic where Yang played with her hair. Something else was going on and both of them knew about it.

"Of all of the stupid, reckless, boneheaded ideas!" Weiss Schnee's shouting drew Blake's attention back to her and Ruby. She was pulling twigs from her hair while Ruby giggled. She was also standing too close to the bushes. Bushes that had something moving inside of them.

Before Blake could warn her, a final Beowolf lept forward. Blake snapped her pistol up and fired two shots, one for each eye, before Ruby reacted. It was already dead when the other girl blew its head off.

"Weiss, you really need to be more careful." Ruby continued scanning the bushes, while her partner growled and stalked up to her.

"I need to be more careful? Do you have any idea how close you came to shooting me?" Weiss turned away, ignoring Ruby's complaint that she never actually hit her.

After taking a deep breath, Weiss glanced towards Blake. The animosity from the previous day was almost all gone. "Thank you for reacting so quickly and saving me."

Ruby folded her scythe up to a small rifle. "Aww Weiss come on. The plan worked great. We got all fortyish of them. And the Ursa too!"

"Thirty two. You took out twenty of them, along with the Ursa, while I stopped us from being swarmed even more than we already were." Weiss continued ranting, "I'd expected there to be some fighting, not a panicked run through Grimm infested territory. Why are there so many Grimm in this forest anyway? It's right next to Beacon!"

Blake mouthed thirty two and looked back to Yang; who wasn't worried for her sister at all. She wasn't sure which was more excited when Yang spoke, "Whew, good job sis. We only found three Ursa and like ten Beowolves so far. I've gotta catch up."

Weiss groaned in exasperation. Blake shot her a sympathetic smile that got a small smile back, which was surprising in its own right. Having anything in common with the Schnee heiress was unexpected. Though it was probably for a different reason in her case.

The thought that someone could enjoy fighting Grimm wasn't exactly new to Blake, but Ruby and Yang seemed too nice for that. Everyone else she'd known with that attitude had a bloodthirsty streak a mile wide and gave off an aura of violence even when they were just sitting around camp.

She shivered when she remembered the conversations that they thought she couldn't hear. The things some of them wanted to do, that they wanted her to help with. Bile rose in her throat.

 _Never again._

While she shook the memory off, another pair of Hunters joined them. A small, very energetic, girl who rode an Ursa in before it collapsed and an exhausted boy chasing after her. Another high pitched scream sounded from the forest, followed by a chorus of howls. The trees shook as the Grimm moved.

"Yang." Blake got herself ready to fight. "I think you'll get your chance."


	5. Chapter 1-5

Ruby heard the howls and started counting. Way more Beowolves would be on them soon and several Ursai as well. The bear Grimm's lower growls were hard to pick out, but distinctive if you knew what to listen for.

She wasn't even winded after her run, but Weiss wasn't doing as good. They needed a plan, a way to stop themselves from getting too tired and fight off whatever monster caused that earthquake. It would be coming for them soon enough; with this many other Grimm around, it had to be.

Six Hunters in training, two of whom were tired. That was all Ruby had to work with. She looked over their weapons and the ruins. A semblance of a plan formed. They could do this, it would be tough and have a very porous wall, but they could manage it if her ideas were right.

She turned to the two who just arrived, the girl with the fancy warhammer-launcher from before and the calm boy whose weapons she hadn't seen yet. Ruby waved at them. "Hey, umm, do you have any explosives left?"

The girl quirked her head to the side for a moment, then grinned maniacally. "Do I ever?! Do you wanna see?"

The boy sighed, but didn't say anything.

Ruby shook her head quickly. "Not right now, but…" She looked each of them over once more. "I have a plan to get us through this and they'll be very important soon."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "What is it this time? More running around?"

"Nope." Ruby waved at the circular ruin. "We have a perfect defensive position. Well... semi-perfect. The wall will be a little weak with just three, but-"

A piercing scream distracted her. Jaune was flying towards them from just above the tree line. He flailed wildly as he fell, slamming face first into a tree. Ruby winced, him and plants didn't seem to get along very well.

Now she had seven Hunters in training, or maybe just six and Jaune. But, he could still help. "Yang, could you go get Jaune?"

"Sure." Yang saluted and ran off.

"We've got a good defensive position, but we need to keep it." She pointed at Blake and the two newcomers in succession. "Can any of your jump into a horde, take out an Ursa by yourself, and get back without support?"

Blake nodded, the other girl wiggled her hand back and forth, and the boy shook his head. Ruby knew that either she or Yang could handle it too, but they were also much better suited to be on the defensive line. Warhammer girl could also be good there; however her grenades would be much more effective if she had a high vantage point.

Yang returned with Jaune over her shoulder. His head was spinning slightly while he mumbled, "I'm ok."

Ruby ran up to him and yelled when he was put down, "Jaune, snap out of it we need you!"

Jaune blinked a few times and grinned. He leaned over and dropped his voice low enough that it just sounded weird, "Why hello there. A girl like you needs me?" Then it suddenly spiked back to normal. "Wait... How do you know my name?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Ruby just groaned. She didn't have the time to explain this right now. "I'll tell you later, but we have a horde of Grimm coming and-"

"Horde of…" Jaune paused before yelling, "Pyrrha! She's all alone with that scorpion. We have to help her!"

Ruby clapped her hands in front of his face. "Jaune focus, we can't help her if we get overrun."

When he nodded, she turned back to the crowd. "Ok so, like I was saying. We have a good position here."

She traced the front of the ruin with a finger. "Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and I will form an arc here and stop them from getting across. Weiss and Jaune, you have the sides. Use the wall to keep them off you."

She pointed to the top of the wall next. "Blake and…"

Ruby paused, looking at the other two.

The boy nodded. "Ren."

The girl thrust an arm into the air. "Nora!"

"Right." Ruby continued, "Blake, Ren, and Nora will be up top. Nora, you focus on hitting clustered groups. Ren, cover Nora, Jaune, and Weiss. Blake, take out targets of opportunity and any Ursa. You three also need to keep them from hitting our backs if any get through."

Ruby turned around and waved a hand to the side. Her cape fluttered in the breeze as rose petals flew towards the group.

"Any questions?" Ruby knew there would be, but they did have time. So she tried something before they could respond.

She was up very late last night thinking about Pyrrha's ritual and the sounds she heard. Not the ones from Pyrrha, instead the strings in the sky that responded to her words. They resonated in a way that bound Pyrrha and Jaune together. For a while the two were in sync, even if they eventually separated. What would happen in all of them were bound like that, even if it wasn't as complete?

When she summoned the rose petals, her fingers also strummed the invisible strings of the world. One petal landed on the forehead of each person, before disintegrating into a cloud of red dust. They shook their heads in sync, no questions.

Ruby turned back to the forest and unfolded Crescent Rose. "Get ready."

* * *

This was nothing like grandpa's stories.

Jaune thrust his sword forward, clipping a Beowolf's shoulder and forcing it back. He raised his shield just in time to block a swipe from one of the others, then stepped forward to thrust again. This one's mask deflected the attack, but the monster backed away.

They were surrounded by endless sea of black fur, white masks, and red eyes. Ok maybe it wasn't really endless, but it felt like that. He didn't know how many the others had killed so far, but he only had one to his name. One out of who knew how many.

The cute girl in red had cut off its left arm. He caught it in the mouth when it fell over. It was more an accident than anything else, but it still counted! Maybe he'd get another before this was over. One that was his and his alone, something he could really be proud of.

He and Pyrrha hadn't found any of these things in the forest; even though they did hear the shots and explosions from everyone else fighting. Then they went into that stupid cave and found the giant scorpion. He should've known better, been smarter. Instead he got flug so high he flew over top of the trees. Now she was fighting it all alone.

A pink explosion blasted two Beowolves away from him. He bashed a third in the face with his shield, driving it back as well. They snarled and clawed at the ground; in response, he raised his sword above his head and waited. There were too many for him to go out by himself.

Ren and Nora had saved him a few times already, stepping in when the swarm got too close and it looked like one might slip through. Blake also threw some shots his way on occasion, but she mostly leapt from pillar to pillar, focusing on the ones on the outside. She'd jump down, erupt into a wave of blades and silhouettes, then retreat back to safety while her shadowy copies distracted the Grimm.

A second grenade from Nora cleared the rest, which gave him some time to catch his breath. Jaune glanced back to check on the others on the ground.

The red girl had a pile of mangled bodies at her feet. The corpses were being torn to shreds as the other Beowolves rushed over their fallen. Jaune couldn't keep up with her scythe, it was just a blur surrounding her. One sweep and she took out multiple limbs, a second and they all fell to the ground. The third started the process all over again. He didn't know how she kept her balance swinging that huge thing around without pausing.

Yang had a few piles too, but hers were further away. She launched them back with each punch, using the corpses as weapons to bowl others over. It didn't matter which part she hit, they went flying no matter what. When enough got stuck together, she'd shoot one of her missiles at them and finish the whole group at once.

He couldn't see the white-haired angel from the previous day without leaving his back exposed, but he was sure she'd gotten more than the others combined. The one time he looked at her, there was a huge wall of ice spikes that funneled them onto her blade. The constant flashes of fire also had to be powerful, destroying the Grimm left and right.

Fire, it made him think of yesterday morning again. About how Pyrrha and… and the other girl who was there... were talking about weapons. His sword still felt hot in his hand and could he ever use something awesome. His family's legacy was crying out to be used, to cut down the forces of darkness surrounding him!

Jaune turned back to the Grimm and stepped forward. He threw all of his weight into one slash, aiming right for the beast's face. The Beowolf twisted its head to the side, past the point where any animal should be able to, and snapped its teeth down, catching the blade between them. The monster growled and pulled. Jaune was yanked even further out of formation. "Aww crap."

It snapped its head back to normal, bringing him to his knees in the process. Jaune raised his shield against the blow he knew was coming and barely avoided hitting his head with the top of his shield when it slammed down over and over. Claws raked his exposed sword arm, but he held onto the handle for dear life.

Several shots from Ren hit the monster with his sword and made it let go. He swung with all of his might to the left and stopped with his blade halfway through the other one's torso.

He pulled it back just in time to block a swipe from another Beowolf. It followed up with a series of wild slashes knocked his shield out of the way. He swung wildly at its face, but it just jumped out of the way.

"Jaune down!" The girl in red yelled and turned her scythe towards him, holding it behind her back. She looked his way with a sideways glance and fired a single shot. Jaune got down just in time to feel the whip of the bullet above his head. It was more a reflex than a conscious thought.

Without missing a beat she was moving again, cutting down more. He glanced left, a Beowolf had climbed onto the wall and would've chomped on his head if she didn't get it. That was a punch to the gut. He couldn't kill them and keep himself safe, only rely on everyone else to cover for his mistakes.

Jaune brought his shield up again and got ready. If he couldn't fight back, he'd at least not fail more. All he needed to do was keep them back, he didn't need to kill any himself. Just delay them enough for someone else to handle it.

He swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing more of them over to the red girl's scythe. Now if only he could remember who she was.

* * *

Ruby stepped over the pile in front of her. They'd done it, there weren't many Beowolves left and no one had gotten seriously injured. She could handle these by herself, but they didn't have the time to chase all of them down.

She'd noticed the trees surrounding them shifting during the fight and heard the clanks of bone on metal. Pyrrha had been fighting a huge monster while they cleared the horde away. She ran it in circles around the ruin and probably saved all of their lives.

Now that the fighting had died down, they were getting closer. Ruby reached into her pouch for another magazine and came up empty. Her first idea wouldn't work anymore; Time for Plan B. She cleaved through another Beowolf and turned to her team. Most of them weren't doing so good.

Weiss ran out of Fire Dust toward the end of the fight; Yang took enough hits that flames were flickering in her hair; Ren and Jaune barely seemed to be on their feet; Nora was also out of ammo; and she had no idea what was going on with Blake, who was fighting very carefully now. She didn't use her Semblance at all for the last Ursa and was just shooting the Beowolves, rather than jumping down from her perch.

She looked at Yang. Her sister was still catching her breath, eyes bright red. Yang looked up, smiled, and started running towards the noise.

"Ok team, we got through it." Ruby spun around and lashed out with Crescent Rose, finishing the Beowolf that tried to sneak up on her. "We have one really big target left, then we're home free."

"Nora, Ren, and Jaune. Finish off the Beowolves and keep them from following us." She swiped at another one, but it jumped back in the nick of time. "Blake, you're with me and Yang. Weiss, do you have a few more glyphs in you?"

Weiss nodded after taking a breath. "Of course."

"Ok, watch our backs and be ready when I call you."

"You trust me to keep watch?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Yuh huh." Ruby nodded and smiled.

Weiss blinked a few times in response, a little stunned, but she still stepped forward. "Ok, fine."

With one last glance at the others, Ruby dashed after Yang. She could've gotten there faster with her Semblance, but didn't use it. She needed both Blake and Weiss to make this work.

Jaune said the Grimm was a giant scorpion and he was right, but Ruby didn't expect just how big it was. It towered over them and its stinger was almost as tall as her. Yang and Pyrrha were right in front of it.

Pyrrha's entire body heaved with each breath, but she stayed in the fight. She kept close to Yang and blocked any strikes that came in; which let Yang to focus on offense. The blond darted forward, popped it in the eyes, and hopped back. She couldn't commit to anything harder without giving the Grimm an opportunity to sting her.

It didn't seem like any real damage had been done to it.

Ruby fired a shot at it to signal their arrival. The bullet deflected off of its back, but she never expected to hurt it like that. Pyrrha and Yang glanced back at exactly the wrong time.

The Deathstalker slammed its claw down on them, blasting a cloud of dust into the air. Pyrrha flew out of it and dropped her spear when she tumbled to a stop. Ruby shouted, "Yang no!"

She could hear it slam the ground again and again, completely obscuring both of them. The monster paused briefly before smaller, sharper blows sounded out. Those had to be the stinger. With each impact Ruby winced. Yang was tough, really tough, but even she had her limits.

"Weiss, wind!" Ruby yelled; Weiss moved sluggishly. She raised her rapier and shot a gust forward, but it was taking too long to reach them. Ruby grit her teeth while she waited for the dust to clear, fearing the worst. The sharp blows kept ringing out in a steady pulse.

Those hits weren't the stinger.

Yang had stepped forward and wrapped her arm over the small part of one of the Deathstalker's claws. She forced its claw to the ground and held it there while she attacked. The ringing blows were her fist impacting its carapace, over and over. Each punch made the monster stumble and slide backward, staggering it despite all logic to the contrary. Yang kept pace, stepping up to maintain the assault. Each footfall kicked up more dust, but not enough to cover them again.

Her hair burned with golden flames, brighter than any Ruby had seen before. Yang was going all out, spending everything she'd saved up in the previous fight. Each punch was wreathed in fire and the glow surged with power whenever the monster tried to lift its claw. She was going to burn out fast.

Weiss and Blake had stopped running. Pyrrha froze, halfway to standing. Ruby felt a chill run down her spine. Golden flames and incredible strength, that was what they saw.

"Don't worry. That's just her Semblance! She's fine!" She yelled. Three pairs of accusatory eyes turned towards her. The world slowed, the pressure built, Ruby pushed against it with all of her might. _Yang's good!_

Blake turned back towards the fight immediately. Weiss took slightly longer, but they both were back on track.

Pyrrha was slower. She took her time standing and kept her gaze locked until Ruby broke it. She didn't have time to spend convincing Pyrrha right now.

"Blake, get in there and trap its tail." Ruby ran over to Pyrrha's fallen spear, picked it up, and tossed it to its owner. Pyrrha caught it and finally got back in the game. "Pyrrha, Weiss. Freeze the other claw, then help Blake."

They all moved while Ruby dashed to the side and got in position. Deathstalkers were known for their thick carapaces and this one was huge. She'd need every bit of speed she could get if she wanted to make this work.

While she ran the others were busy. Blake batted at the stinger a few times to make the Grimm respond and looped her dagger around it when it missed her. She slid underneath its belly and pulled the ribbon tight. She wasn't enough to get it completely out of the way, but she stopped it from being able to sting Yang.

Pyrrha taunted it into swiping at her as Weiss sent out a wave of ice, The other claw was stuck in place. Both joined Blake next and brought the tail down to the ground on one side. All three of them could only hold it for so long.

Yang continued pummeling its face, her glow rapidly fading.

"Weiss, springboard ten yards out, low angle," Ruby shouted and started her charge. She trusted Weiss to time it right and her partner didn't disappoint. She hit the glyphe moving as quickly as she could. At the last moment she pushed off with her Semblance, moving even faster thanks to Weiss's boost. As she lept Crescent Rose was pulled behind her by the force, but that was ok.

Ruby lined up her blow while she flew through the air. This was what her sweetheart was built for, one devastating hit that could finish any monster. She had four choices: the mouth, each of the two clusters of eyes, or the crack that Yang made. This was the only shot she had, she needed to pick the right one… Or did she?

She felt that pressure again, the world demanding a choice be made. She'd been pushing against that, making it her own choice. Why couldn't she do that here? Ruby focused on the possibilities. If she wanted to guarantee she made the right choice, _all she needed to do was take all of them._

She saw the paths before her in her mind's eye and pushed herself towards each of them. Ruby split into four lethal bolts, each bringing the beak of her scythe into alignment with her target. Four blows struck as one, shattering the Deathstalker's carapace and embedding Crescent Rose deep within it. The force was enough to flip her over top of Crescent Rose. Each of her landed with her feet on her scythe's head, leaning on the shaft

Ruby let out a breath while her senses returned to normal. Seeing quadruple was weird.

The Deathstalker's tail twitched. She squeezed the trigger and fired her final round.

Ruby swung up, sending the hard shell flying into the air. One, two, three times she flipped, before landing in a crouch. Ruby stood up with Crescent Rose resting on her shoulders, smiling. When she saw the looks on her friends faces it shifted to be more of a nervous grin.

Why were they looking at her like that?

Yang spoke up first. Her sister's hair was back to normal and her eyes were violet. "Sis, your uhh, thingy's showing."

Yang tapped the center of her forehead. Ruby looked at what remained of Weiss's ice wall. The bright red symbol had appeared on her forehead again. A circle with an arrow coming out of it that only showed up when she used too much Aura at once.

"Umm, I can explain?"

Ruby collapsed onto her new bed.

She wasn't really tired, just mentally drained. Pyrrha had so many questions about both her and Yang's Semblances. Once she started, Weiss and Blake also had questions that Ruby didn't really know the answers to. Then Jaune, Ren, and Nora caught up and she had to start all over.

Why does that symbol appear? What does it mean? What's you real Semblance? Has Yang been tested?

They could only answer the last one of those well. It seemed like a rude question at first, but then she found out that Pyrrha and Weiss had it done to them too. Of course, both were just as close lipped about what happened.

The more she didn't hear about this test, the more worried Ruby got. What was done to them that was so bad and why would knowing about it make it worse? Everyone seemed like they were ok with it now, but she had no way to be sure.

She turned to the side and watched her new teammates getting ready to sleep. Weiss was playing with her scroll, Blake was reading a thick book, and Yang was already asleep. All of their luggage was stacked up against a wall. Ruby didn't know how all of it would fit in this tiny room, but that was a problem for the morning.

Ruby closed her eyes and listened to the world. She could hear it now, the energy she'd been searching for. The missing piece of the puzzle. The stars were alight with songs from all colors of the rainbow. The colors shifted as she changed her focus. In some places they would blend together and in others they'd fall away to just one, overwhelming melody.

It took a while, but she found the sound she was looking for. It was the one she used before, the one that had been there when Pyrrha unlocked Jaune's Aura. The song that was so similar to her own Aura.

Now that she could hear it clearly, she could pick out the differences as well.

It was a nice sound, exciting and soothing at the same time. It was like sitting near a blazing fire or watching her team in action. Listening to it brought visions of battle and heroism to her.

...

Ruby drifted off and dreamed of what could be.


	6. Chapter 1-i

The children had been sent to their new rooms and should have been long asleep; meanwhile Professors Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch were burning the midnight Dust.

They sat in Glynda's office, illuminated by the glow of their scrolls and the large viewing screen, where they poured through reports from the other professors observing the initiations. Each was in a state of relative disarray. It was late and they had no students to be good examples for. Glynda's hair was down and her cape draped over her chair. Port had thrown his jacket onto the couch. And Oobleck had undone the top two buttons of his shirt, they weren't sure where his tie had gone.

Professor Port rolled his neck until it gave a satisfying click. He sighed and rolled it back before speaking. "Now that we've finished with the easy notes. Why don't we get back into the real meat of it?"

"Yes. Agreed." Oobleck downed another mug of coffee, his tenth in the past two hours. Even with that much in him, he was moving slowly. Considering how quickly he typically spoke, it could be considered a normal pace. "We've all been putting this off due to the sheer difficulty, but we must overcome that challenge."

"Very well." Glynda could already feel the headache that reviewing team RWBY and team JNPR caused coming back. They'd tried to start with these teams, but got caught up in a circular argument about the nature of the Grimm for the better part of an hour.

"I still think it's safe to say that we have a problem on our hands," Port started the argument right back up by pulling up the footage from the fight at the ruins. "This number of Grimm would not have been gathered by a normal group of students no matter how riled up they were."

"I disagree." Oobleck countered with images of Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. "We have three students in the group who have displayed significant signs of fear, irritation, and anger respectively. While none by itself would be enough, all three would cause quite the stir. Especially considering the very potent Auras of two of them." He paused very briefly. " Also, I do not believe that any would be foolish enough to call the Grimm in a scenario like this. What could possibly be gained?"

"The theory that they are in control of the Grimm is only a theory!"

"A theory with substantial proof that only has increased due to the new commanding spells that Haven Academy just released more information on."

"Anyone could learn techniques like those. It stands to reason that the same behaviors that we normally see around Aura users would be magnified by their presence."

"Peter! Bartholomew! We've been over this three times already!" Glynda slammed her hand on the desk. These two were Beacon's foremost experts on the Anathema and the Grimm. They were normally an incredible team, also the best comedy duo the academy had, but when it came to these discussions there were always vicious disagreements. Both men were so stubborn about which theories they believed that she had to be the tiebreaker more often than not. "It's nearly ten and we all have to teach tomorrow. For now, let's just proceed under the assumption that there is one present so that we can finish. I don't think there's enough evidence to launch an investigation yet, but there's enough to be suspicious."

"Very well." Oobleck nodded. "Proceeding with that assumption that one of these talented students indeed a vile demon, I believe that attention should be first drawn to… To… To the student who is..."

His fingers blurred as he scrolled through the listing. "Ahh, yes Miss Rose. The leader of team RWBY who has the uncontrollable memory-loss Semblance."

An image of Ruby with the glowing sigil on her forehead appeared. Port hmmed while stroking his mustache. "I can't say she'd be my first choice, but she is on the list."

"Normally I would agree, however there is fantastic mystery surrounding her Semblance. She claims that it makes people forget her, something that we've trivially verified, but I suspect there's more to it than that." Oobleck stood up and pointed at a slide of Ruby's attack on the Deathstalker. There were very clearly multiple images of her, though it was hard to tell where the separation began. "Here she appears to split into four to attack. This along with she makes a number of incredible fast movements while traversing the forest. Thus the mystery of her Semblance. Or maybe I should have said, of her Semblances."

"She was moving very quickly; this could be an error in the footage." Glynda knew how low quality some of the cameras were. They needed to focus more on them surviving when the Grimm swatted at them, than the ability to capture high quality video.

"Barty you could do something like this trivially." Port shook his head. "Many of our seniors could as well."

"Indeed they could. Though, Professor Sienna did say that she saw the duplicates as well. While she was watching from quite the distance, I think this would rule out equipment failure." He pulled up another set of stills that were taken right after the impact. The apparent contact points were obscured in each shot. "If only we had a better angle, then this mystery could be solved much more easily."

"Even disregarding equipment failure. I still count, four new students who I would give even odds of passing the senior combat final between these teams. Miss Rose's seemingly spontaneous ability to lead is the aspect I would call into question, not her skill at killing Grimm." Port sent more images of the ruins up.

"Her plan was very simple and a standard tactic against a Beowolf swarm." Glynda pulled a copy of Ruby's transcripts up on her scroll. "Her transcripts show no deficit in theory courses and all of the other students, with the seeming exception of Mister Arc, seem experienced enough to succeed."

"Succeed yes. Never break formation?" Port raised an eyebrow. "Miss Xiao Long and Miss Valkyrie do not seem the type to stay in their assigned place as well as they did. Mister Arc's performance after Miss Rose's speech was also noticeably better than before."

"Yes. The differences between what we see and what his history says are also suspect." Glynda was about to pull up a copy of his transcripts as well when the door opened. Professor Ozpin stepped out with a tray of refreshments.

"I hadn't expected you all to still be awake." He set the tray down, there was more than enough for everyone. "I take it that this initiation is proving more troublesome than normal."

Glynda spoke before the other had the chance, "Yes, there are a number of very talented students who all wound up on the same teams and we've had a… vigorous, debate as a result. We were discussing Miss Rose when you came in."

"Miss Rose is your first choice. For what reason?"

"She would be for me. Please allow me to explain." Oobleck started and paused when Glynda gave him a look. "In brief that is."

"While I don't believe that we can be certain about any of these students, she is the most suspicious as far as I'm concerned. Miss Rose appears to either have multiple Semblances, a sure sign if there was any, or has acquired multiple techniques normally known only to senior Hunters. Which in and of itself would be another sign."

Ozpin shook his head. "I don't think that Miss Rose is the person we're looking for." He pointed at the screen. "While her abilities may be very strange, her colors and this sigil are incorrect."

"She could be a new classification. Alternatively, an old one that we simply can't remember." Oobleck froze as he spoke. He shook his head after a moment and continued, "A terrifying proposal if I've ever heard of one."

"I find it unlikely that we wouldn't find any records of her condition if it was an old one." Ozpin took a seat on the cleanest edge of the table. "Also, regarding the additional Semblances you mentioned, she could be called the apprentice of Qrow Branwen and fights with his style."

"That changes things. Can he be reached to confirm what he showed her?" Port said.

"Unfortunately, he's in the field. I've sent him a high priority message about the matter."

The professors looked at each other and nodded. Port sent another slide up. "We'll have to delay discussions on Miss Rose until we hear from him then. While we're on the subject of team RWBY, I think we need to look into Miss Schnee's prior investigation more closely. She passed, but due to the identity of the examiner..."

Glynda poured herself another cup of tea. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

From: headmaster

To: All Professor+

BCC: , headmaster , headmaster , headmaster

Security Level: Secret

Attachments: Identifying Anathema

Subject: Results of freshmen class initiation

All,

This report displays the results of additional information gathering during the freshmen initiations. As with all messages of this type, all information is to remain confidential.

Thirteen students had been flagged from additional review due to their results on the general entrance examination or their transcripts. We have removed eight of the thirteen from the list requiring additional observation, but had to add three more after the initiation concluded. No official investigations have been launched at this time.

Keep a close eye of the following students and report any unusual behavior or additional signs that you observe to Professor Goodwitch as soon as possible. These students are each impressive Hunters-in-training and it is imperative that you not be foolhardy or offensive in your observations.

It has been eleven years since an Anathema last tried to infiltrate Beacon Academy. If you need a refresher on proper observation and monitoring, please see Professor Port or Doctor Oobleck at the nearest opportunity.

Stay safe and have a wonderful first semester.

Thank you,

Headmaster Ozpin

* * *

Name: Ruby Rose

Team: RWBY(leader)

Semblance: Uncontrollable Memory Erasure

Aura: 2 Superior, family history of strong Aura

Academics: 3 Average, junior level weapons engineering

Combat: 1 Professional reaction speed and accuracy

Influence: 3 Poor liar, skilled at combat leadership

Additional Information:

The subject of the all staff message titled 'Memory Erasure Semblance'

Emits a powerful red aura and forehead glyph during unknown conditions

Has displayed master-class speed technique

Has apprenticed under Huntsman Qrow Branwen and fights with the same style, this may explain the previous comment

Investigations:

1 - not performed

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 3 - Reduced from 2 while awaiting comments from Qrow Branwen

* * *

Name: Weiss Schnee

Team: RWBY

Semblance: Schnee Family Glyphs

Aura: 1 Superior, senior level in Dust Sorcery

Academics: 1 Perfect score on entrance exam

Combat: 3 No notable traits

Influence: 2 Professional singer, excellent expression control

Additional Information:

Semblance manifests with white coloration when no dust is used

Has a photographic memory

Likely is aware of monitoring procedures

Investigations:

1 - Passed, signed by G. Schnee(Schnee Technology Company)

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 1

* * *

Name: Blake Belladonna

Team: RWBY

Semblance: Afterimages

Aura: 1 Superior

Academics: 3 Average results on entrance exam, noticeable gaps in knowledge

Combat: 1 Professional marksmanship and reflexes

Influence: 3 No notable traits

Additional Information:

Semblance manifests with black/purple coloration on occasion

Investigations:

1 - not performed

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 2

* * *

Name: Yang Xiao Long

Team: RWBY

Semblance: Increased Strength following injury

Aura: 2 Superior, family history of strong Aura

Academics: 3 No notable traits

Combat: 1 Professional form and martial arts skills

Influence: 3 No notable traits

Additional Information:

Semblance manifests as golden fire, no iconography displayed and fire is short lived

Strong enough to hold down an ancient Deathstalker when using Semblance

Eyes become red when under stress

Investigations:

1 - Passed, signed by Professor L. Blan(Signal Academy)

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 1

* * *

Name: Jaune Arc

Team: JNPR(leader)

Semblance: Unknown

Aura: 2 Superior, family history of strong Aura

Academics: 1 Incredible transcripts from Torch Academy

Combat: 4 Deficient in all areas save tactics, performed acceptably in the initiation

Influence: 2 Strange amount of consideration received from Pyrrha Nikos

Additional Information:

Investigations:

1 - not performed

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 3

* * *

Name: Nora Valkyrie

Team: JNPR

Semblance: Electricity Absorption

Aura: 2 Above average

Academics: 3 Average score on entrance exam

Combat: 1 Exceptional strength and stamina without semblance use, junior level combat skills

Influence: 3 No notable traits

Additional Information:

Displayed far better discipline in initiation than during the entrance exam without good explanation

Investigations:

1 - not performed

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 2

* * *

Name: Pyrrha Nikos

Team: JNPR

Semblance: Unknown

Aura: 1 Superior

Academics: 1 Near perfect score on Beacon entrance exam

Combat: 1 Professional combat skills

Influence: 3 No notable traits

Additional Information:

Multi-year tournament champion of Mistral Regional Tournament.

Investigations:

1 - Passed, signed by E. Concordia(Mistral Regional Tournament)

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 1

* * *

Name: Lie Ren

Team: JNPR

Semblance: Unknown

Aura: 3 Average

Academics: 1 Near perfect score on entrance exam

Combat: 2 Junior level combat skills, skilled in multiple martial arts

Influence: 3 No notable traits

Additional Information:

Killed a King Taijitu by himself in initiation

Investigations:

1 - not performed

2 - not performed

3 - not performed

Monitoring Level: 3


	7. Chapter 2-1

"Body, Blade, Dust, and Soul." Professor Goodwitch began her lecture from the center of the largest sparring room. "These are the four pillars of success in battle for a Huntsman or Huntress."

"In this class we will call them by their proper names: Martial Arts, Weapon Evocation, Dust Sorcery, and Semblance." She stood with perfect posture, hands clasped behind her back, while the enormous screen cycled between images in step with her words. "They have been studied for centuries and, even though new discoveries occur on an annual basis, the basics still apply today. None worthy of the title Hunter fail to attain mastery of at least one pillar. Most are proficient in two or three."

"Now that we have finished the review of basic Aura techniques this class will be moving on to these advanced topics. You will become acquainted with each of these techniques through both study and hands-on practice."

That brought Ruby back to attention. The weeks of review were so boring that she almost fell asleep in what was supposed to be sparring class! It should've been the most exciting part of the week, not a long lecture and re-doing stuff she learned literally years ago.

Most of her team, and half of team JNPR, were bored out of their minds too. It was a constant struggle to not just goof off. She didn't know how Weiss, Ren, and Pyrrha did it. Those three were always taking notes, even though she knew they didn't need to.

"I'll call out each one by one. Please raise your hand if you have experience in any advanced techniques." Professor Goodwitch changed the screen to an empty graph.

"First, Martial Arts." A bunch of people raised their hands, including Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha. Ruby wasn't sure if what Uncle Qrow taught her counted, so she didn't.

"Weapon Evoking." More of the class this time. Jaune and Ren were the only friends of hers who didn't know any.

"Dust Sorcery." Almost no one, which wasn't all that surprising. Getting good Dust was really expensive and you'd waste a lot of it making mistakes. Weiss was the only one Ruby knew with her hand up.

"And finally, Semblance." All of team RWBY raised their hands this time.

Ruby could feel her cheeks getting hot when she realized how many people were looking at them now. Most teams didn't have anyone who knew their Semblance and if they did, there was just one person. Team JNPR, the second most experienced team in every other category, only had Nora. Team RWBY was awesome!

The graph filled up, letting them see just how badly skewed the numbers were. No category had more than half of the class in it, but Sorcery and Semblance were slivers on the bottom.

"As you can see, there are some topics that need more detailed introductions to than others. Unfortunately, there is little that we can do to assist you in discovering your Semblance. Everyone has their own, unique, Semblance and the path to discovering it is equally unique."

She pointed at one of the side tables and raised her hand slowly. Her finger emitted a purple glow while the table hovered to her. "The color of your Semblance and Aura are also unique. However, as all of you should know, there are potential dangers related to specific colors. Does anyone present wish to state that their Semblance's color is similar to silver or gold?"

Yang very slowly raised her hand.

The soft background chatter slowly stopped as people noticed Yang. Again, all of the eyes in the room turned towards team RWBY. This time they alternated between shock, worry, fear, anger, and all sorts of other really bad feelings for the most part. A few people, including team JNPR, seemed sorry for her instead.

Yang was gripping the edge of her seat so hard that Ruby was surprised it hadn't broken. She managed to keep most of her anger from showing on her face, but it was pretty obvious what she wanted to do to them. Ruby glared for her, along with Weiss and Blake, but only people really close to her were cowed.

"Thank you for letting us know Miss Xiao Long. What does it display as?"

"Golden fire." Yang was just barely loud enough for the room to hear.

Professor Goodwitch nodded and Yang lowered her hand.

"As for the rest of you!" She snapped her riding crop on the table. "Your reactions are not only unwarranted, they are actively dangerous. As Huntsmen and Huntresses people will come to you guidance, leadership, and protection. They will come with potentially incorrect information that may be catastrophic if acted on rashly."

"Color. Intensity. Iconography." She hit it again after each word. At the same time several images of men and women who were brightly glowing gold or silver appeared on the main screen. Each had a different symbols on their forehead. "Without confirming all three qualities, all that you would do is create a needless panic."

Professor Goodwitch took and deep breath and looked over the room. When she spoke, her voice was much softer. "Consider what might happen in the field if people saw one of you react this way. If they saw you look at someone that they thought of as another Hunteress protecting them with anger or suspicion; would you see anger, fear, or panic in their eyes? How would you assuage their worries about every unknown Hunter? The same worries that could draw a horde of Grimm at any moment. How would you protect them from their fears if you let yourself be ruled by your own?"

Ruby didn't have an answer for any of those questions. Figuring out what people were feeling was tough enough for her already. Maybe she could just fight the Grimm all by herself and drive them off, but that wasn't something that could work in the long run.

Professor Goodwitch continued after a moment, "There are many elite Hunters who would never have finished their education if someone jumped the gun on an accusation. The Professors here at Beacon are well aware of the potential danger that the Anathema present. However, we have a system in place for a reason. If you notice something, then tell us. But, you're here to learn, to make new friends, and grow into the great Huntsmen and Huntresses that we know you can be."

Almost everyone who had been looking at them badly was looking away from them now, most of them at their own laps. The few who weren't still couldn't meet Yang's eyes.

They sat in silence for almost a minute before Professor Goodwitch continued. She moved to the edge of the arena, hovering the table behind her. "With that said, we will begin with Martial Arts and focus on that topic for the next two weeks. It's a diverse field, comprised of both pure Aura techniques and those based on specific types of weaponry. In order to achieve mastery, you must have control over the form and flow of your Aura, along with how it interacts with the world around you."

She pushed her glasses back up and looked over the room. "Do we have any volunteers to give a demonstration?"

A few people raised their hands, including Yang. She'd bounced back and had her game face on.

"Come on pick me. I'll show them," She said just loud enough for her team to hear.

Professor Goodwitch looked around the room, considering each person in turn. After a moment, she pointed at their section. "Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long, please come down for the first match."

Both stood up, nodded at the other, and jumped down to the arena. They walked to the center, Ren calm and Yang smiling. Their faces were cast to the screen and the Aura meters filled.

"For this fight, please restrict yourselves to just the techniques of one style. Which one will each of you use?"

"White Crane." Ren stood near the center of the arena with his hands open and at his side. If she couldn't tell how tense his muscles were, Ruby would've thought he wasn't about to fight at all.

"Scarlet Pulse." Yang rapped her knuckles together, but didn't get into any sort of combat stance. Was she going to do that thing where she flirted with people, then punched them? Was that even part of her style or just a thing she liked doing? Either way, Ruby didn't think Ren would fall for it.

Her sister walked around the circle lazily. Her boots clicked on the stones while the room waited in anticipation. She rolled her head back and forth, humming to herself. Eventually Ren relaxed, that was when she moved.

In a fluid motion she punched the air twice, then pulled her right first back. Yang burst forward before Ren could get himself ready again. She went in low.

Her uppercut smashed through Ren's guard and caught him in the chin. As he rocketed up, her head snapped to the side. Even though he couldn't stop the punch, he still got a knee in after getting launched. Both of their Auras dipped, but Ren lost a lot more.

"Heh, good shot." She hopped back as he fell, getting ready for another strike.

* * *

Ren knew the attack was coming before he saw Yang. A falling opponent was a perfect target, especially for such an aggressive style. He'd get hit again, but he wouldn't make it easy for her. At the apex of his air time, he flipped over and gathered his Aura into his hands.

She came at him with a powerful straight at the face. He caught the blow with both hands and pushed against it. The force sent him flying backward. He flipped over again and landed with his feet on the ground.

Ren dropped a hand to control his slide, but before he could get back up another attack was coming in. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the leaping ax-kick. The floor cracked with the force of the blow. Yang threw another kick instead of catching her balance and caught him in the side.

She pushed him to his feet with the blow, as she tumbled to the ground. But, a quick glance at the screen told him how bad the situation was. He dashed forward and threw a single kick to keep her down. It wasn't a good blow, but it did the job.

Ren hopped back, just out of her range, and kept his weight forward. Yang was still down, holding herself up on one arm. She could either stand, leaving herself open, or attack from the ground, and also leave herself open. He channeled his Aura into his back leg in preparation for his next blow.

"Kick his butt Yang!" One of her teammates yelled while Ren waited.

"No! Ren, you kick her butt harder!" This time it was Nora.

"Nora, that's not a very good target." He replied without looking away.

"I don't know." Yang grinned and shifted her weight to show it off. "I think it's pretty great."

She tapped her side with her free hand. While she looked even more off balance, open to an easy hit; he wasn't falling for that again.

Ren didn't know too much about her style, but he wasn't taking any chances. He could wait for her to make a real mistake.

It didn't take very long.

She started with a goofy smile which quickly changed to a look of irritation. Yang made a few motions with her head, inviting him to come closer. Ren waited.

Yang's eyes flashed red as she shifted her weight, one hand was on the ground and one leg was bent. With a roar she launched herself into the air, coming at him with a spinning hammer strike. He went low and caught her forearm with his. Ren shoved her up with his arm and brought his back inches from the ground to kick her in the gut. Her own power was used against her to make the blow that much worse.

Yang flipped through the air and landed on her feet. She flashed him a smile and a bright laugh. Ren couldn't help matching her with a smile of his own. In a way, this was just like sparring with Nora.

Once they were both ready she brought her hands up and shuffled forward. Ren got back into stance and waited for her to reach him.

They came together in a flurry of jabs, blocks, and elbow strikes. Yang was lightning with her punches, throwing a second before he could recover from the first. Very few of them landed, but without a chance to strike back he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. He'd only managed to get a couple light hits in, always after she did something ridiculous.

Her headbutt missed and he caught her in the throat. A spinning kick turned into another tumble when he threw her leg up. The flip kick when she got up was too close to his face for him to respond in time. He couldn't do anything about the assortment of jabs she threw between them though. They slowly ran his Aura down without any risk to Yang. She was too fast to punish and too strong to throw off balance.

He saw her pull back slightly more. With a quick stomp and a twist of her hips, Yang threw a straight. Ren took it on the shoulder and turned with the blow. He stepped in, ran his right hand along his left arm to empower the strike, and hit her with an open palm to the chest. His Aura pulsed and sent her skidding backward.

As she slowed, he stepped forward and snapped a kick. She caught his leg and twisted it; he had to turn in response. He moved his arm into the best guard position he could. Where would she kick? His head and back were completely open. Would she move in to wrestle instead? There wasn't much he could do to protect himself against that.

The buzzer sounded after her foot hit him just below the lower back. It wasn't a very strong hit, but it was enough.

"Really." He let his arms fall with the deadpan statement. Yang responded with a thumbs up and a giggle.

He glanced at the screen after she let go. He'd barely gotten Yang to halfway. Ren knew he was at an Aura disadvantage compared to her, but didn't think it'd be that bad. If he could've mixed up his styles, he would've done a lot better. Then again, in a normal fight she would've been hitting a lot harder thanks to her Semblance.

Yang stepped forward, hand raised. "Come on. That was awesome and you know it."

Ren gave her a nod before shaking his head. It was… an experience.

* * *

Ruby didn't get a chance to jump into the ring all class, but that was ok. She got to see Yang kick butt, literally, and all sorts of cool fighting styles. None of them seemed really useful to her, Crescent Rose was kind of a unique weapon in that regard, but it was still fun to watch them.

On second thought, one of the ones Ren used might be nice in case someone like Yang got in really close. He did pretty good against her. Ruby also didn't know if anyone else noticed, but both of them cheated in the fight. Well, assuming breaking the rules and using something else counted as cheating anyway.

They mostly stuck to just one color though, so it was probably fine.

Professor Goodwitch waited for everyone to be seated again before she continued the class. "Thank you once more to all of our volunteers. You fought well."

"As you can see, there is a very wide diversity between styles. Each has its own strengths and its own weaknesses, but all can be incredibly useful no matter what you choose to specialize in." She looked over the class again and paused when she reached team RWBY's section. Ruby glanced back and found Weiss holding her hand up. "Miss Schnee, you have a question?"

"Yes," Weiss stood up as she spoke. "Professor Goodwitch. What do you specialize in? If it isn't martial arts, how are they still useful to you?"

The Professor smiled and gestured at the side of the room. She levitated a thick sheet of steel and two short, sturdy tables over to her.

"I'm glad you asked." She placed them in front of her with the tables separated and the sheet spanning the gap between them. "I specialize in use of my Semblance along with Sorcery, but I am familiar with both Martial Arts and Evoking as well. Before I took them up, I was at a major disadvantage if enemies closed in too quickly."

She raised a fist to shoulder height and closed her eyes. A brilliant blue sound built as she gathered energy. Ren had the most consistent beat among the students and Yang was by far the loudest, but this combined both of them. Professor Goodwitch's pitch was perfect and her music resonated with the entire room.

She opened her eyes and snapped her arm down in the same moment. A metallic ring sounded as she hit the sheet and part of it fell to the floor. It wasn't deformed at all; instead a perfectly circular hole had been punched through it.

Professor Goodwitch hovered the disk in front of her as she spoke, "That strike would be more than enough to deal with an unintelligent attacker, such as most Grimm. None of you will be expected to have the control or power necessary to replicate that feat by the end of this class, unless this proves to be your focus."

She hovered the disk back into the sheet and fused them back together. "Your assigned reading for the next class is chapter seven of your 'Aura and the Body' book. Dismissed."

Ruby gave Yang a pat on the shoulder while they headed to the door. Before she got there Professor Goodwitch called. "Miss Rose, could you come over here for a moment?"

Ruby looked to her teammates and shrugged. "I'll see you next class."

She jumped down to the arena as the Professor was cleaning up. "Hello ma'am. What did you want to see me for?"

"Doctor Oobleck and I noticed how much time you spent in the engineering lab during the past few weeks and wanted to ask you about your project." She was completely unreadable.

"Oh, umm," Ruby blushed and looked away, "I'm really sorry about how much stock I ruined. I've never worked with some of those materials before so it took a couple of tries to get the channels right."

"The Orichalcum stock?" Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to worry about that. We have enough for some experimentation. We wanted to know more about what you were trying to make."

"Ahh, well." Ruby pulled a specification sheet up on her scroll. "Weiss showed me some of the work that went into Myrtenaster and I thought that I could use some of that design to make Crescent Rose's shots more powerful. I haven't managed to get them drawn to the right length yet, but I think the theory is solid."

"You're trying to replicate cutting edge development from the SDC engineers?"

"I think it was the STC that did this one." Ruby checked the schematics again. "Yeah, Schnee Technology Company. Right there." She pointed to the signature block on her scroll.

Professor Goodwitch brought her hand to her chin and looked at Ruby while she thought. Ruby tried to keep a straight face. She could feel the pressure again, but had no idea what it was about this time. Just like it normally was with Blake and Weiss.

"There's a project that Doctor Oobleck is working in a similar field," She said while breaking her gaze. "He's been looking for an assistant who can keep up with him and I think you may be a perfect fit."

She already had Ruby's interest, but what she said next cinched it, "There are also more advanced machining tools available in his lab that I'm sure he would be happy to let you use."

"Really!" Ruby was shaking with excitement. "I-I don't know how to, but I would be… Should I go and ask him now?"

Professor Goodwitch smiled. "Don't worry. I'll let him know you're interested. He'll get in touch with you about when to stop by."

"Thank you so much!" Ruby didn't hug her professor, but she really wanted to.


	8. Chapter 2-2

Ruby found all of her friends milling around outside of the classroom. Yang and Ren were at the center of a small crowd while everyone else waited a bit further away. Yang seemed way happier to be in there. She was giving random people high fives while Ren just sort of stood there.

Ruby stepped up next to Weiss and Blake, who were reading by themselves, again.

"What was that about?" Weiss said without glancing up from her scroll.

"Professor Goodwitch wanted to tell me about a research project that Professor Oobleck's working on that sounds super cool." Ruby bounced up to her with a giant smile.

Weiss looked at Ruby in disbelief for a moment. She raised her hand to her mouth and laughed into it. "That's what it takes to get you interested in learning? Heh, you dork."

"What will you be working on?" Pyrrha asked her. At the same time, Yang gave someone a fist bump goodbye and started pushing out of the crowd, dragging Ren behind her.

Ruby hissed and looked away from Weiss. "Orichalcum dust channels."

"I never should've given you that schematic." Weiss shook her head. "You stay in the lab for hours every night and have to rush your other work because of it."

"I'm so close though. Besides writing papers is boring." Ruby groaned and got an eye roll out of Weiss.

"What do you think doing research is going to be? It's all writing papers."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Bleh…" Ruby stuck out her tongue and rolled her head to the side like she was going to be sick. "At least I'll be able to use better tools, I guess."

After Yang and Ren to got back to them, she asked, "So, now that everyone's here… Lunch?"

Team JNPR and Blake all agreed, with a hefty "woo" from Nora.

"Sorry, I need to send a long message to my family." Weiss pointed out the window to the giant central tower on campus. She didn't sound pleased about this.

"And I've gotta wax Bumblebee." Yang gave them a thumbs up. Her motorcycle always needed some minor repair work because of how hard she rode it. Though, it was a little weird that she'd need to do that right now. But, that wasn't really Ruby's problem. Her grumbling stomach was way more important.

"Alright, see you later." Ruby waved goodbye and headed to the cafeteria.

Several minutes later, they'd taken over their table again.

Whenever the eight of them had the same lunch period, they'd always grab the exactly same spot. It was nice and sunny, with a great view of the courtyard. It was also really close to the dessert bar.

Ruby devoured her burger before starting on the much taller stack of cookies. Everyone else had something vaguely healthy. Without Yang and Weiss there, their table was a little lacking in meat for her to swipe, but she didn't really care all that much.

"So Ruby, right? Leader of team RWBY?" Jaune leaned over while Ruby was in mid bite. She nodded slowly, wondering what this was about. Was he gonna hit on her again? He almost always did that when he forgot her, but they were just in class! He shouldn't have had enough time to forget!

"What's your guys secret?"

Ruby gasped and started coughing as she inhaled cookie crumbs. After hitting herself in the chest a couple of times, she was able to speak. "Wha-What? Secret?"

"You know, how all of you guys have your Semblances." Jaune leaned away from her and brushed the cookie bits off of his arms. "Jeez, what did you think I meant?"

"Sorry, sorry." Ruby coughed a couple more times and took some quick breaths. "Ok, umm, I mean... I don't know."

She'd gotten everyone's attention, except for Blake and Pyrrha.

"Yang discovered hers like a year ago. Weiss doesn't really talk about it much." Ruby shrugged and looked over to Blake.

"I discovered mine while training. It was nothing special." Blake shrugged and continued reading her book.

With all eyes back on her, Ruby grimaced. "Mine just sort of happened while I was fighting a bunch of Grimm. I went out into the woods one day and when I got, home dad couldn't remember me."

"That sucks." Jaune summed up her current feelings. Ren and Nora nodded as well. Yeah, it sucked, but what was she going to do about it? She couldn't control it at all.

"About the Grimm…" Pyrrha said quietly from the side of the table, almost making Ruby jump. Instead of talking, she'd been playing with her salad for most of lunch. "I was wondering what technique you used against the Deathstalker. I couldn't see you move clearly, but you hit it much harder than I would've expected."

That got Blake to look up too.

Ruby gulped. This was one of those questions that she hoped would never get asked because it would just lead to more questions that she really didn't want to talk about.

"Well, I learned from my Uncle Qrow. He's all about going fast and hitting hard." Ruby giggled nervously. What she said was technically true, but they weren't buying it. "I also designed Crescent Rose so I could pull stuff like that off and got a big boost in speed from Weiss."

As soon as she felt the pressure building, Ruby focused on the world. She looked at Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake. Three were always the hardest to convince of anything and each of them was still giving her a look. She mentally hummed a tune. _That's all they needed to know._

They all smiled. Blake was still looking at her little weirdly, but it was her normal weird. Suspiciousness just seemed to be her default state, though being a living lie detector probably had something to do with that. Ruby wasn't sure how Blake always knew whenever she lied even slightly, but she could see the other girl's face twitch immediately after she did. It always happened, even when they were just playing cards and the lie didn't matter! What else could that twitch be?

"It certainly seems like your hard work paid off then." Pyrrha nodded and turned to Jaune. "Have you had any luck with your sword?"

"No. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong." He groaned and sunk into his seat. "It just keeps rejecting me."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon." Her arm moved towards him slightly, but she pulled back before he noticed.

After a long silence, Ruby spoke up. "So, umm, since we have so much to write; do you guys want to have a study party later?"

* * *

Later that night, Ruby knocked on team JNRP's door. Ren opened it and peered outside.

She was there all by herself.

Her teammates each had an excuse for why they didn't need to come, even though they said they liked the idea when she first brought it up. Weiss and Blake were already done with their essays and Yang needed to give someone a ride on her motorcycle.

"Hey." She waved and held up her notebook. "You guys ready?"

Before he had the chance to say anything, Nora popped out from the side of the door.

"Ren, who's this?" She gave Ruby a squinty look before poking Ren's arm. Nora wiggled her fingers in Ruby's direction as she continued, "Is she your _secret_ girlfriend?"

Ren sighed. "I don't have a secret girlfriend, Nora."

"Ohh." Nora looked at Ruby again, this time with much more intensity. "So do all of those other girls know about-"

"There are no other girls." Ren cut her off. " Everyone one of them was Ruby. You just keep forgetting about her."

"Hmm." She gave Ruby one last look before turning around and shrugging. "Ok then, if you say so."

Ren shook his head and stepped out of the way. "Sorry, she keeps coming up with different explanations for who you might be."

She walked in and waved to Jaune. He blinked a couple of times, opened his mouth, raised a finger, then closed it again. After a couple seconds on concentrating he finally responded, dropping his voice really deep again. "Hello there, I'm Jaune. Are you a friend of Ren's?"

Ruby sighed and got ready to give them the full explanation again. Nora was able to remember Ruby some of the time, but Jaune was hopeless. He usually needed very specific events and even then he got a lot wrong.

Ruby groaned and looked to Ren for help. "We need to figure out a better way to do this."

"Hi, again, I'm Ruby, leader of team RWBY. My Semblance is kinda weird. It…" She started the short explanation that had become her standard thanks to its effectiveness.

...

Five minutes later, Nora's eyes gleamed. "Ohhh, I remember now." She paused and suddenly stepped really close to Ruby, looking her right in the eyes. "You've told me the exact same thing before haven't you?"

"Yep." Ruby nodded and pulled out her scroll. She opened a file called 'How to explain your Semblance' and looked over it while Nora peered over her shoulder. "Blake wrote something for me to use since I have to do it so much."

"Woah, there's so much." Nora reached down to scroll through the wall of text and annotations.

It worked way better than anything Ruby had been able to come up with; even though she needed to reference her scroll a lot because of how detailed it was. She still wasn't sure why Blake added instructions like "mask your ashamed pride", "be hesitant, yet forceful", or "say with puppy-dog eyes" to it. But, she trusted that her teammate had a good reason for doing so.

"How long did this take?" Ren asked while looking over Nora's shoulder.

"A couple of hours, I think." Ruby tried to remember what else was going on then. Blake and Yang spent a lot of time outside of their room; so she had no idea what they were up to when they weren't in class. Ruby made a mental note to check on that later. Nora was still playing with her scroll so she couldn't just write one down.

"Ohh, this is good." Nora poked it a couple of times. "Really good. Actually, I think I might be able to remember you right away if you just let me read it next time. Well, minus the 'how to act' parts."

Ruby nodded, then turned to Jaune.

"I'm sorry. I still can't." Jaune sighed. "But that doesn't matter. If Ren and Nora are vouching for you, then I'll believe them."

"Thanks for trying." Ruby gave him a part on the shoulder. He looked like he needed it. "So now that that's done, let's get this study party going!"

"Right!" Jaune and Nora shouted at the same time, thrusting their arms into the air. Ren raised his slowly and smiled.

Ruby plopped down next to Jaune and pulled her notebook out. "Alright so, I've got Professor Oobleck's Mistral paper and Professor Port's Anathema paper to finish. How about you guys?"

"Pyrrha helped us with Oobleck's yesterday. You can read over mine." Jaune pulled out three pages of chicken scratch.

"Ohh, lucky. Weiss just gave us book recommendations for the Atlas one." Ruby giggled and sighed. Weiss's books were good, but they were also really boring. "Where is Pyrrha anyway?"

"She has a meeting with Professor Port, tonight." Ren said while he pulled a small, black book from his bag.

"Ohh, maybe he has some cool project for her."

"We could only be so lucky." Ren was staring at the book now. Nora had also joined him, her usual smile nowhere to be found. Jaune was as clueless as Ruby.

"So, Anathema then…" Ruby broke the silence and waited, but when no one else responded she continued. "Well, I don't really know that much about them. We're heroes, they're monsters, and we kill monsters. Simple really."

"Yeah, brutal monsters who bring the Grimm with them and want to kill everyone. Kinda like bad action movie villains, but real," Jaune nodded.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Ren said without looking up.

"What do you mean?" Ruby quirked her head to the side.

"They don't… they don't always seem like that." Nora waved a hand in the air. She snapped a couple of times, looking for the right word, but didn't continue talking.

"What I think Nora means is, they aren't obviously monsters or associated with the Grimm." Ren looked to Nora, who nodded.

"What do you mean? Everything I've seen always had them as these big hulking monstrosities." Jaune pulled a comic from the side of his bed. A man surrounded by a fiery silver glow was on the front cover. He looked equal parts man and Grimm with a half bone mask. He had a huge black sword that was pulling the Auras of the other characters to it. The arm holding it had biceps the size of his torso.

"Jaune, that-" Nora fell forward, laughing. Ren caught her and shook his head. "That's just a comic. It's not real."

Jaune chuckled awkwardly. Nora was giggling to herself for almost a minute before she sat back up.

Once she finished catching her breath, Ruby asked, "Ok, so how do you know that?"

Nora looked at Ren and bit her lip. Ruby felt the pressure and pushed a soothing song into it. _Don't worry._

He took a slow breath, then nodded.

"Right. Ok, umm, so Ren and I... We kinda, sorta fought one." Nora laughed nervously.

"Woah." Ruby could barely believe it. An Anathema appearing was really, really rare.

Nora looked at Ren again and waited for him to say something. When he made no move to, she continued. "We lived in a small village outside of Vale. It was nice, quiet, kinda dull. Well, besides when the Grimm attacked anyway. Most people there made food of some sort. Those who didn't, either learned to fight or make things."

"Both of us were training with our Masters when it appeared." Ren took over. "A strange woman arrived at the walls one day. She came from the Grimm lands. From the places that only real Hunters go."

"She was tall, tan, and looked like she could beat us all the way to Vale and back. Her arms were like, the size of my legs." Nora tapped her thigh. "She said she'd was on a 'vision quest' and found a way to _kill all of the Grimm._ "

"Who would believe her, I mean that would be ridiculous. Kill all of the Grimm at once? Peshaw." Nora was tapping her thigh more now. "But the way she said it, it just sounded right."

"It was like when you're young and your big brother or sister tells you something obviously wrong." Ren spoke softly. "And yet, you believe them anyway."

Jaune and Ruby both nodded. Yang had gotten her to do plenty of silly things back in the day.

"We didn't really have those, real siblings; we just called the older kids that." Nora continued. "Anyway, this woman, she sounded like that even when we were old enough to know better. And the adults in our village were just as bad. She came in and with a single speech gave everyone hope. Hope that one day we might be able to live without walls, without fearing the Grimm."

Ruby felt a sudden wave of worry, but pushed it down. "What happened next?"

"She took over the village almost overnight. Everyone loved her and we flourished while she was in charge. She was like a divine savior who came down from the heavens, just for us." Nora went quiet again. She grit her teeth and scrunched up her face before continuing, "She played off that too. After a month, she called for people to worship her. We should've realized something was wrong, but it felt so right."

"When the next Grimm attack came, we fought them off without any casualties. She led from the front and we fought as one." Ren chimed in again.

"Then the problems started." Nora shivered. "Everyone was so much better than they were before, and we didn't need as many people to keep everyone fed. So, she ordered more people to have their Auras unlocked. They all survived, but they were kinda weak. A couple of times their Auras broke during 'dodge the rock' training. I did throw them kinda hard, but they were just rocks!" Nora laughed lightly, before shaking her head and tossing a book at the wall.

It made a loud thump when it hit, and left a dent behind when it fell.

"Ren and I also started training more, training harder. I got a lot stronger, but each night I felt like I was dying inside; maybe I was. When we were with her, we felt like a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. She made us feel important, like we could do anything as long as we had her blessing."

If they practiced that much, maybe that was why they worked so well as a team in the initiation? Ren and Nora had moved like a well oiled machine. There was no way the song that Ruby played could do something like that.

"After the intensive training started, the village elders began meeting by themselves at night. None of us thought anything of it at the time." Ren commented, while Nora caught her breath.

After a moment, she continued. "A week later, she called the village leaders into a meeting in the town hall. The mayor, the priest, our Masters, even the librarian: everyone important went to it. We were told to wait outside." Both of them shuddered. "We couldn't hear what happened inside, but after several minutes she came out with a golden disk burning on her forehead. She said that they were all traitors to our cause and needed to be killed. She handed me my Master's hammer and told me that he would be first."

"Have you ever felt an overwhelming urge to do something that you know is wrong? An urge so strong that even thinking of ignoring it nauseates you. " Ren looked at them with steely eyes.

"Ren," Nora said with her voice flat, "Even when it was that bad, he managed to resist."

"To go against her was like a barbed blade piercing my heart, a betrayal of everything you knew and loved." He said, flinching at each word.

She looked to Ren and clenched her fist. Ren bent the book he'd been holding so hard that Ruby could hear the pages straining. Nora placed a hand on his wrist before he continued, "The others, our squad mates, our friends. They descended on our teachers like they were Grimm, beasts to be slaughtered. By the time I was able to move, the walls were painted with blood. Nora held back just long enough for me to grab her."

"I almost hammered him."

"She, the Anathema, was more angry than I'd ever seen a person be. She shouted that I had turned traitor as well. But this time, some of our friends managed to snap out of it."

"They screamed, they cried, they howled with rage. Some of them just killed their parents because _that woman_ told them to. I channeled all of my anger into Magnhild and swung as hard as I could."

"Nora hit her with a blow that would've killed an Ursa outright. But she wasn't even fazed."

"The others, who weren't fighting each other, joined us in attacking her. We had, like, twenty on our side. By the end, there were only five left."

"We surrounded her and fought with all we had left. She got progressively brighter as the battle wore on, revealing just what she was to the world with that sick, golden aura." Ren practically spat his words and let the book fall to the ground. He took a deep breath before continuing, "In the end, Nora got a lucky shot in. Just after we all thought she was dead."

"She smashed me through a transformer. It exploded into lightning and, well, that's when I found out what my Semblance was. I felt stronger, faster, able to do anything! Only this time it was my own power making me feel that way." she said triumphantly, then paused for a moment.

Her smile fell before she spoke again. Her voice was softer. "I hit her in the back as she killed another of our friends."

She bowed her head briefly. "The next day a Huntress and her apprentices came by to investigate the lights. She said they'd been trying to track the woman down. The Huntress, she was kinda cold, detached from it all. The boy with her was exactly the same, but he hid it better."

Nora scowled. "She was one of those Hunters who didn't really care about people, who you can tell was just in it for the money. Killing an Anathema, that would've be enough to fix up our home… Not that we ever saw any of it."

Ren spoke next. "She stayed just long enough to confirm the kill; even though everyone knew the Grimm were coming and begged her to stay longer. They came with a Goliath that towered over the forest in front. It trumpeted and barreled through our walls like they weren't even there. Nora and I barely outran the swarm."

"I'm pretty sure that we're the only ones left." Nora gulped and closed her eyes. Ren moved closer to her and gave her a hug. She returned it in part, but she didn't cry. Instead, she clenched her fists so hard her knuckles were white.

After a long moment of silence, Jaune spoke, "I-I'm sorry. That, it's horrible and…"

"We know." Nora's voice was shaky. "It's just…" She looked at Ruby, then at Jaune, and ended with Ren. "It's not just calling the Grimm. They ruin lives and take your mind away from you. Almost dying was so much easier than disobeying."

Ruby felt cold. She'd heard about their horrible combat ability, but no one ever said anything about them being able to do this. To take away someone's ability to choose like that was vile, it was worse than anything else she could've imagined!

To hear how much it hurt her friends just made her so mad she didn't know what to do. She wanted to fight, to go out and stop things like that from ever happening again. But she couldn't just do that. She was only one girl.

"Ren, Nora." Ruby leaned forward and looked right at them. "If anything like this happens again, let me know. We, all of team RWBY, we'll do whatever we can to help."


	9. Chapter 2-3

Doctor Oobleck, she needed to remember the right title, and Ruby stood in Beacon's central tower, waiting for the main elevator to arrive. It went from the ground floor all the way up to Professor Ozpin's office at the top. She'd been up almost all of the way a few times to send messages to her dad. For some reason, he was able to keep her messages in mind more than her face. So they were just emailing instead of video chatting.

"So, Prof- Doctor Oobleck. Where's the lab we're going to?" Ruby asked while paging through the advanced engineering book he'd given her.

"We're going down, Ruby. Deep into the depths of Beacon's foundation where we contain technology and items that need to be protected. Also items that people need to be protected from. While we are there you will see many other doors and labs. Don't open any of them unless I, or another Professor, is there to accompany you."

The elevator opened with a soft ping. They stepped in and he waved a badge near the console. Every floor above them appeared along with eighteen basement levels. Ruby whistled when she saw the number.

"Impressive isn't it. A true marvel of ancient architectural prowess. Our modern construction companies still struggle to build as resilient a structure. Though, few of them have as much money as Beacon's original architects did." Doctor Oobleck pulled up a picture of an old painting on his scroll and showed it to her.

It was Beacon, kinda. The buildings were rougher and all of the people standing around were soldiers. Their armor and weapons were plain, white steel. They had no adornments or heraldry, nothing that could be used to tell them apart. If they didn't have different heights or widths, she might've mistaken them for being clones of the same person. Which would be appropriate for Colorless era knights.

"While the Academy was founded only eighty years ago, the buildings and foundation are far, far older. The surface structures were originally known as the Royal Alabaster Bastion. An impregnable fortress that the Kings and Queens of Vale would retreat to in times of war." He paused to take a sip of coffee. "It also served as the training ground of their greatest warriors, the White Knights. A savage order that beat any trace of individuality and feeling from its members in order to improve their ability to operate in lands claimed by the Grimm."

He continued with a slight shiver in his voice, "They would be locked in subterranean cells with a Beowolf just out of reach. There they would remain until they either lost the capacity to feel any emotion that would attract the Grimm… or went mad. Of course, that was just the first ordeal that they went through. Those poor men and women were tortured until they could persevere through anything without a single ounce of feeling, their souls bleached as white as their armor."

Ruby shuddered at the thought of being in a place like that. She'd learned about what Vale was like in that time in broad strokes: restrictions on what people could wear, lack of art or music, and devastating wars between the kingdoms. They went over the effects of the wars on the people, but never how the soldiers who fought in them were trained.

"After the Great War, the Bastion was repurposed into the academy that you now attend. A beacon for the world to see and emulate. It was a powerful symbol for the new era, showing that such an evil place could be redeemed and used to help everyone."

The elevator stopped and they stepped out to a hallway lit by the Dust circuits running along the walls. The circuits traced complex patterns over every surface. Some ended when they reached one of the doors and others just continued until they rounded a corner.

Ruby took a deep breath as she listened to the symphony of the machinery. While the circuits looked rather chaotic to the eye, she could hear how they fused together into a complex melody that echoed through the hall. It was all spiraling into something much further beneath them.

"This floor is used for advanced research and development. There are a number of technologies that either require a powerful Aura to use or need to be modified in order to be used by people possessing sufficient strength of the soul. However, what we will be working on is not one of those technologies." He said as they walked. They passed a number of doors, each of which had a very generic name, usually nothing more than a number. Eventually they stopped in front of room 712, the Advanced Materials Lab.

"Ooh," Ruby cooed as the doors slid open and most of the lights flickered on. There were so many nice machines here and even more components that she was dying to take a look at. Everything was scattered around the lab in a haphazard manner, organized for someone who could quickly get from one side of the room to the other in the blink of an eye. Luckily, Ruby could do that too.

Doctor Oobleck led her to the very back, where a small crucible-like-thing was sitting on a table. Next to it was a rotor made of Orichalcum and Moonsilver!

Ruby glanced around at the other pieces lying nearby and looked at what they were made of. All of the precious metal here boggled her mind.

If she was right, there was a full suit of armor whose plates were pure Orichalcum with flexible underarmor of pure Moonsilver! There were also wires and connectors sticking out of the sides made of metals she'd never, ever seen before! She could even make out incredibly small gears, again made of Orichalcum, built into the joints.

"I, bluh, agagaba." Ruby made random noises and waved at the table that was casually holding more incredible metal than all of Signal's labs combined.

"Ahh yes, the armor. Theoretically, very impressive, but I wouldn't bother with that if I were you. Until we get this improved Dust furnace operational, it's just a very expensive paperweight." He picked up one of the gauntlets and casually dropped it. "It was given to Professor Ozpin many years ago in hopes that he might be able to make use of it. Unfortunately, even his Aura wasn't powerful enough to make that monstrosity move without damaging itself."

Ruby knew that problem all too well. Structural integrity was the hardest part of Crescent Rose's design and she had to scrap most of her initial attempts because of it. She had to choose between being able to wield her weapon or it having a sturdy design. She picked the first for obvious reasons; if something was too heavy to pick up, then it wasn't a useful weapon. But because of that, her scythe wouldn't last through a single fight without her Aura protecting the internal components from damage.

Orichalcum and Moonsilver were amazingly potent, but you also needed a very powerful Aura to use them. The thought of trying to infuse an entire suit of armor made out of nothing but them made her shudder. She'd have barely any Aura left to take hits or use her Semblance if she did that.

Well, maybe if she did the glowy thing she might be able to do it, but that only happened when she pushed herself too hard and glowing all of the time would suck.

"I have no idea how General Ironwood got a hold it. But, he said that if we can figure out a way to make it work, then the armor was ours. Of course, since he couldn't provide us with any schematics or knowledge of which company built it, reproduction will be next to impossible without sending it back to Atlas." Doctor Oobleck sighed and shook his head. "It's most likely a proof of concept from one of their defense firms. Designed to get the military interested in purchasing hundreds for specialists. If a lesser version of this armor could be constructed, it would revolutionize the capabilities of the average Hunters. But the project was likely scrapped once they realized the costs involved. So Instead, we have a demonstration of incredible technical prowess that is utterly unusable."

He tipped his head back, draining his mug in one go.

"In any event, what I need you to do right now is perform a large number of tests on our current furnace model and record the results. There are a large number of different nozzle sizes and Dust ratios that all need to be checked against."

A long, mostly empty, spreadsheet appeared on the wall in front of Ruby. She barely resisted groaning. Weiss was right! It was all boring paperwork! She looked up at Doctor Oobleck with dazed, pleading eyes.

"But, all of these tests will take a long time to perform, leaving us…" He flicked a switch and the lights near the big machines turned on. Ruby's eyes immediately brightened at the sight of all of them. "With ample opportunity for other research. Of course, if you come up with any ideas for modifications or improvements to the furnace, let me know as soon as you have them."

"And now, we will begin!" He shouted and raised his mug above his head.

"But first, we need to re-build some components that the last tests melted." He dashed over to the side of one of the bigger machines, narrowly avoiding hitting some tools dangling from the ceiling with his hair. "Tell me Ruby. Have you ever used a lightning lathe before?"

* * *

Later that night, Ruby was laying on her bed and staring blankly at her text books. She spent way more time with Doctor Oobleck than she expected and had a lot of homework to catch up on.

Each member of team RWBY had some and they were all working on it. Well, Ruby was supposed to be, but she was paying more attention to the sounds of all of the machinery around them. She knew there was something wrong with the furnace, but couldn't put her finger on what it was. The Dust wasn't being burned smoothly and the pockets of imbalance were causing the turbine to spin out of control.

Of course, explaining how she knew that when they hadn't finished going over any of the numbers wouldn't be possible. She didn't know how to fix it either, so she couldn't just happen upon the right configuration. Research was hard.

"Grrr, why are you so incompetent? You can't even catch one man?!" Weiss growled loudly enough that it snapped Ruby out of her thoughts.

She leaned over the side of their bunk bed so she could look at her partner. Weiss was in her nightgown with her scroll in hand and two textbooks in front of her. She was gripping her scroll hard enough that it was shaking.

"Weiss are you ok?" Ruby asked after clicking her music off.

"No, I'm not. I finally figured out why the price of Dust has gone up so much!" She scrolled up and turned her screen to Ruby.

"'Aerial Criminals Abscond with Additional Dust.'" Ruby read the article's title out loud. There was a picture of a shop with a broken window and a small bulkhead flying away. A smaller picture showed a red headed man wearing a bowler hat and suit, but Weiss pulled her scroll away before Ruby could read any more.

"Ok, so some guy in Vale's stealing a bunch of Dust. Why are you mad? Wouldn't that be good for your dad's company?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, it brings in more money. But this isn't a good way for that to happen. He isn't just stealing high grade dust, he's stealing all of it: sand, crystals, even completely unrefined pebbles! There's no use for most of it outside of creating explosives."

"Uhh." Ruby raised a finger in hopes of getting a word in, but Weiss continued ranting without looking at her.

"Dust prices are up and it's 'good' for the Schnee Dust Company. However, this artificial demand only exists because Dust is being removed from the market by criminals! It still exists, we just have no idea what they plan to do with it."

"Weiss I-" Ruby tried to interject as Blake and Yang turned towards them.

"Meanwhile the White Fang have also been increasing their attacks. Disrupting shipments, destroying factories, and assaulting mines. So we also have Anathema worshiping savages stealing everything they can get their grimy paws on! They should just go the whole way and call themselves the Silver Fang considering how much damage they do to society." Weiss was shouting by the end of that. Yang flinched at her final words. Blake just stared at her, mouth hanging open.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Weiss said in disbelief.

"Do you know _anything_ about the White Fang besides propaganda?" Blake said slowly.

Weiss locked eyes with her and spoke quickly, as if she was reciting a list of facts from a text book. "They were a supposedly peaceful, Atlesian Faunus rights group that turned violent when the world didn't change fast enough for them. The violence quickly escalated from civil disobedience and resisting arrest to terrorism and assassination. They now operate in Atlas, Vale, and Mistral, with a larger membership than ever before due to strong-arming any Faunus they can into joining. And killing any who try to leave."

One of Blake's eyes was twitching a little bit. Her bow also moved forward and turned out, which was weird, but Ruby had gotten used to it doing that. Maybe it was in response to Blake's aura? Both her and Weiss were using theirs, for some reason. Each of them pushed against the air, sending waves of intense sound blasting across the room.

"Thus marking them the greatest barrier to the Faunus being treated better because no one wants to allow a rabid beast to live next to them. All the general public see is the White Fang committing atrocity after atrocity. Of course, all of that ignores their status as the most dangerous and destructive Anathema cult in recorded history." She practically spat her words. "Did I miss anything?"

Ruby gulped and glanced over to Blake. She didn't really know anything about the White Fang and from her sister's shocked face, neither did Yang.

"For starters," Blake said as she glanced at one of her books, "They _were_ a peaceful group that protested for decades. However, they were met with nothing except for attacks. After years of weathering these blows, they started fighting back and protecting themselves. It obviously got out of hand, but they hardly need to force people to join. You're delusional if you think a chance to fight back against their oppressors isn't attractive to many Faunus. A chance to make a real change, instead of waiting for empty promises that will never be fulfilled. And rabid beasts? That's what you call people fighting for their lives with the only power they have?"

"So they can attract young fools who are willing to throw their lives away for nothing, so what? Any White Fang member would be better served by trying to join the police force or a combat school. And yes, I will call them what they are, beasts. They are a menace who've undoubtedly caused more Faunus to die from Grimm attacks than they'll ever save." Weiss paused. "Also, you haven't even touched on their worst choices as a political entity. You know, the part where they dress like Grimm and worship man-eating demons, literally taking on the appearance of humanity's greatest threats."

"If you'd read about where that came from, you'd know it was done because they were already being called Grimmspawn and Anathema worshipers. 'If you would treat me as the devil, then I will give you something to fear.' Humanity forced them to become monsters, they just decided to dress the part. The 'worship' is just done ironically."

Ruby hissed slightly, but neither one noticed. After what Ren and Nora went through, she couldn't trust something like that. Maybe Blake was right, but… just no.

"That still doesn't make it, _in any way_ , a good idea. It just gives other Faunus a bad name and keeps real progress from being made."

"Really, real progress." Blake said deadpan. "Like what? Actually being paid for their labor?"

"The SDC pays them! We even gave them a twenty percent raise last quarter."

"Yeah, a raise in Schnee scrip."

"It's more efficient!"

Blake gave Weiss a look of disbelief again. After a moment, the heiress turned away in a huff.

Ruby took the pause to look at Yang. She opened her mouth and gestured from Weiss to Blake. Yang shrugged and shook her head. She mouthed " _I have no idea."_ back.

Weiss knowing a bunch of this made sense, since her dad's company employed a lot of Faunus. Now that Ruby knew which sites to check, she found a lot of really bad news written about how it treated them until about four months ago. Today, everyone wanted to know why they were suddenly giving out raises when they hadn't for nearly a decade.

She didn't know why Blake cared so much. No one at Signal was ever this intense, even the Faunus students. Ruby wondered, _Could Blake be... No, she doesn't have any animal traits. Unless..._

Ruby kept a close watch on Blake's bow. It twitched in time with her Aura again. _Nah, couldn't be._

Weiss looked at Blake and took a deep breath. "By handling all transactions internally, the SDC is able to let its workers benefit from a lack of payroll taxes and the improved economy of scale that the SDC can use to purchase necessary goods from other vendors. Because of this, they're effectively making almost half again as much as they would be if they were being paid directly in lien."

"Because you know so much more about what they need."

"Well they certainly don't know how to shop intelligently! They spend so much of their money of beer and junk food that they can't save anything."

"They buy those as an escape from their miserable situation. They're slaves in everything but name!"

"No they're not!"

"Then how much does it cost for them to leave the mines?"

"I-" Weiss flinched back and grabbed her scroll. She pulled open a huge spreadsheet and scrolled through the figures. After a few minutes she finally spoke again, most of the anger gone from her voice. "It costs approximately three months' worth of labor for a ticket after factoring in cost of living expenses. If they buy luxuries at the average rate, then this increases to eleven months."

She took a deep breath before she continued. "Assuming they want the equivalent of three months' rent according to low-income housing prices in Atlas and to have luxuries while they work, then it becomes two and a half years."

For a long moment they waited. Ruby could still hear the reverberations of their clash echoing through the room in waves. Louder, softer, then louder again. They reached a peak in the center of the room.

"And if they have a family…" Blake barely spoke, but her words shattered what remained of the argument. It flowed away.

Weiss was blankly staring at her scroll now, at the numbers that determined how much a life under the SDC was worth. "The new Faunus foreman didn't have any complaints about their pay. He was excited for the raises."

" _A_ Faunus foreman. How many mines are there?"

"...It takes time to change things."

The tension was gone. They all turned back to their work.

But no one could focus for the rest of the night.


	10. Chapter 2-4

"All you need to do is put more money into the bus and train systems. This would lower transportation costs for workers and improve the economic activity in the outer city."

"And better transportation within the city still does nothing to help those who live outside of the city. Though, it might work if more railways were built."

Ruby woke up to another debate between Weiss and Blake. It had become a daily ritual for them. Each time some new piece of news started it. They always went on and on about topics that she barely knew anything about.

"That would never happen. You can't turn a profit by serving those communities and the average cost of rail maintenance per mile would be…"

She rolled over and looked at them. Weiss was leaning against the wall and gesturing into the air; whereas Blake kept referencing her scroll. Ruby didn't get what Weiss having a perfect memory meant until now. She could pull all sorts of facts and figures out of thin air. They almost always wound up being accurate too. Or at least, Blake thought that Weiss believed they were true, and trusted her. Ruby was pretty sure about this because Blake didn't twitch whenever one was used that sounded weird.

"We can't just leave vulnerable people alone in the wilderness because it isn't worth it to build new rails." Blake countered, drawing a frown from Weiss. She always knew just what to say to make Weiss annoyed and throw her off of her game, usually something that the heiress overlooked regarding how other people did things.

"If they don't see an economic benefit, then the people who have the money to build it won't. Rails are notoriously hard to protect from the Grimm. The only good method is to build them underground, and I don't think the people of Vale would want to try that again anytime soon." And Weiss pivoted to a new argument, a new method of attack.

It was a fascinating way to fight with words. Each would try to throw the other off balance, but needed to enter the other's domain in order to actually make the attack. Kind of like a knife on spear fight where the knife-fighter was trying to taunt the spear-user into overstepping. Then she'd grab the shaft with her off hand and close in for the kill. Only the knife was really a multi-weapon gun-knife, but they were also different spears that worked better against different sorts of armor so… That analogy only went so far.

Ruby shook her head and looked around their room. Weiss and Blake were ready to go, but Yang was still out like a rock. Somehow, her sister was able to sleep through all of this arguing.

After a moment of deeper listening, Ruby hopped out of bed and started getting changed. The pulses of Aura weren't present, it must be because the topic was so boring. If they weren't really fighting, then it was safe to interrupt for breakfast. She never wanted to be on the receiving end of both glares again.

"In the process of expanding the city, they found subterranean Grimm that destroyed all of Mountain Glenn. We still don't know where all of these underground pockets are, so it would be very dangerous to build within the border." Weiss shifted the topic all the way back to yesterday's debate. Blake grumbled under her breath.

"As you said before, we've improved our surveying technology since then. Are you telling me that you wouldn't invest in being the only person to have trains like this and potential access to the other areas in the countryside?" As Blake spoke, Ruby flinched. That was really close to the topics that stirred the flames. So long as they didn't directly talk about the SDC or White Fang, they were usually good.

"Maybe. I would need the right subsidies from city districts that benefit from the additional work force." Weiss nodded and smiled, ending the debate.

Blake rolled her eyes and smiled back. Ruby looked from one of them to the other and back again.

"Eeeeeee!" She squealed and dashed over to them. Ruby wrapped both of them into a hug while yelling, "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!"

"Grah, Ruby why?" Weiss fought back slightly, Blake just froze like always.

Ruby let them go after a moment and hopped back to the center of the room. She and Yang would get them used to random hugs, eventually. "You both were smiling. At the same time!"

"What? That-that's not. You-you argh!" Weiss blushed and turned her back to Ruby, who laughed in response.

"Come on Weiss," Yang said with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up. "You really don't smile all that much."

Weiss gave Yang a look and shook her head. "I suppose that's because I've never had a chance to match wits with someone on my level." She smirked at Blake, who returned it.

"Aww, Weiss." Ruby stepped forward for another hug. She was being so nice today.

"Not you."

"Aww… Weiss." Ruby sulked in an exaggerated manner, sinking as far down as she could. Then she fell into a fit of giggles. She collapsed to the floor, drawing an eye roll from her monochromatic teammates.

Eventually, Yang pulled her up and they finished changing. When team RWBY left their room, they found Jaune walking back from the locker rooms.

He was soaked, just wearing a towel, and had one hand pressed against the side of his head. Weiss immediately rubbed her forehead while Ruby and Yang ran up to him.

"Jaune!" They cried. "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Oh, umm…" He looked at Weiss and blushed all the way down to his chest. "It's nothing really. Cardin just replaced my shampoo with superglue. I was going to find Ren because Nora glued her hand to her desk last weekend he had something that helped."

"Why are you...?" Ruby pointed at his towel.

"Oh, Cardin kinda hid my clothes too. They'll show up again sooner or later."

"Jaune, if you want us to do something about him…" Yang slammed her fists together.

"No, no." Jaune waved his free hand, then snapped it down to grab the knot of his towel before it fell. "He just likes to mess around. There's no problem."

Ruby and Yang looked at each other with a grimace, but let him go by. If Jaune didn't want help, who were they to interfere.

* * *

Lunch right after fighting was the best!

Ruby got a chance to spar this time and burned a lot of energy! Her opponent was a little disappointing, but it was still fun. Sparring class with actual sparring got her full approval.

Her friends being together also got full approval. Getting them all in the same place was really hard, meals were about the only reliable time. Especially since she was going into the lab as often as Doctor Oobleck let her. She wasn't allowed to have her own key because of all of the other dangerous things in the room.

Ruby sat down in the middle of the group. She was between Weiss and Blake, and across from Nora. She'd been trying to get Nora to consistently remember her all week. Some days she did, on others it was like meeting a very sorry and very huggy friend all over again. Nora was kind of like her dad in that way.

"Hey, Nora." She waved.

"Mmph? What's up, Ruby?" Nora mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.

"You remembered me!" She thrust an arm into the air. "Also, cookies."

With her mission accomplished, Ruby looked over to the end of the table where Jaune, Yang, and Pyrrha were continuing their endless game of who would beat who from their favorite stories.

"No way, Major Marvelous would totally beat Lucy Skycutter." Yang drew a circle in the air with her fork. "He'd be all like, whoosh, binding chains on her arms and legs. No Dust blade could save her from those."

"How would she get caught? Lucy can see the future." Jaune brought his hands up to his face like they were googles. "She'd figure out what he was doing before he even thought of it."

Weiss groaned. She didn't join in on the more silly conversations very often. Instead she just played with numbers on her scroll. It looked like a business game of some sort, but Ruby didn't know why anyone would want to play those.

Of course, Weiss still participated more often than Blake and Ren, who were all the way at the other end of the table. Today they were reading 'The Darkness Within' and 'Ancient Mistrian Recipes' respectively. Ruby had been borrowing some of Blake's happier books, what few of them there were, but she couldn't keep up with how quickly Blake devoured new ones.

Without taking her eyes off of her book, Blake proved that she had been listening. "Seeing things doesn't matter if you can't react fast enough to prevent them from happening."

"Yeah, but how hard can dodging magic be compared to parrying bullets?" Jaune shot back, but got no response.

Ruby couldn't help giggling because he'd just taken several rounds to the face in class, only blocking one of them by accident. She felt a little bad about laughing because Jaune had gotten a lot better. Even so, he was still missing a lot of what she thought of as basic skills.

Nora slammed her fist on the table and made all of their dishes bounce, drawing everyone's attention. "I think there's a much better 'who can beat who' question we could be asking."

She grinned and looked from one side of the table to the other. "We've only seen three fights between our teams so far. Sooooo, bets on who can beat who for the next sparring class?"

Ruby looked at everyone nervously. She was pretty sure she'd be up there, but hadn't done an all out fight with Yang since the summer. That was before everything happened in the woods. She was a lot better now, but then again so was Yang.

"Pyrrha." Weiss broke the ice without looking up from her game.

"Wanna justify that?" Nora leaned over the table, leaving her only a few inches away from Weiss. She met Nora's manic grin with cold indifference and looked back down without emoting.

"I think it should be obvious why she'd win."

"Thank you Weiss." Pyrrha rubbed the side of her neck and stared at her salad. When Ruby thought about it, she was the most obvious choice. Pyrrha was a multi-year combat tournament champion. Though, it was a little weird that Weiss mentioned this fact more often than Pyrrha herself.

"Ok, yeah. I've gotta go with Pyrrha too." Nora sat back down. "Sorry Ren, but you've already lost one." She gave him a shoulder pat.

Ren smiled at Nora, then shrugged. "I think Yang has a good shot."

Ruby nodded. "I'm giving it to Yang too, sorry Pyrrha."

"Aww, thanks sis." Yang leaned over Weiss and lightly punched Ruby in the arm.

"Well, I think Weiss could do it!" Jaune chimed in next. He gave Weiss a goofy smile. She responded by shaking her head.

"Come on you guys. We're tied." Nora poked Pyrrha and Blake in turn. Yang was just out of arm's reach for her, but she tried anyway.

"I'm really not sure. Each of us has a different style and would match up better against different opponents. Judging an overall winner would be difficult." Pyrrha said while looking at her plate.

Blake shrugged and continued to read her book. "Ruby, I guess. She has the biggest weapon."

Pyrrha looked at Blake for a moment, then laughed. "I can't really argue with that logic, I suppose. However, if I were considering rate of improvement, I'd pick Jaune." She paused to smile at him. "But Ruby is two years younger than us and is still incredibly talented. By the time she's our age, she'll have surpassed all of our current skills."

"Who?" Jaune looked around the table, passing over Ruby twice before he noticed her.

Ruby groaned and waved to him. "Jaune, open your scroll and look at the note titled 'I forgot about Ruby again'." She'd asked Blake to write him a note to make this easier. It usually worked, but he still hadn't managed to remember to read it without prompting.

Nora groaned and dropped her head to the table. "You two suck! Now we have a three way tie."

Ren gave her a reassuring pat on the back while almost everyone else laughed. Blake and Weiss rolled their eyes instead.

Nora rolled her head to the side to get a look at her new target. "Alright. Yang, it all comes down to this." She suddenly sat back up and pointed at Yang. "You need to break this tie! Who will win?"

"Uhh." Yang looked down the table and bit her lip. "Well, I'm not really sure, you know? Everyone's pretty good."

Nora slammed both of her palms on the table and scowled at Yang. Yang groaned and looked around. "Ok fine. I pick…" She paused and ran her fingers through her hair. "Blake."

"What?" Everyone else said at once. Blake was good, but she made no sense as far as Ruby could tell. She hadn't fought much and her Aura was so quiet that Ruby almost missed it whenever she did something.

"I mean, she's faster than me and still hits really hard. She's also good at all ranges, just like Pyrrha. So… yeah, Blake."

All eyes turned to Blake, whose cheeks were bright red. She raised her book up to cover her face. "Uhh, thank you, but I really don't think I could do that well."

Nora's head hit the table again.

Everyone waited for someone to break the silence. Pyrrha, Blake, Ren, and Yang were just looking around, their faces forced to be as close to neutral as possible. They alternated between each other mostly. Weiss and Jaune were engrossed in their scrolls, the former occasionally glanced at Ruby.

Weiss kept making weird facial motions when their eyes met; a nod toward Yang here, a raised eyebrow there, and sometimes she held eye contact for several seconds past the point where it became uncomfortable.

Ruby had no idea what Weiss was implying; so she just played with the crumbs of her cookies. Cookies and milk were a complete lunch; no matter what dad said.

"Ohh, you're the one who helped me with my 'Beowolves Suck!' paper," Jaune said as he finished reading the note, looking right at Ruby. After a moment she giggled. Then Yang joined in. Shortly followed by Pyrrha. And then they all were laughing again.

"Huh? What'd I say?" Jaune laughed along, even though he hadn't been paying enough attention to know why.

"Nothing Jaune." Pyrrha laid a hand on his arm. She pulled it back quickly, to wipe the sides of her eyes. "Hehehe, thank you. We just, really needed that."

"Umm, ok." He grinned and scratched the side of his head. "Well, I'm still kinda hungry. Who else wants ice cream?"

* * *

"...not very subtle Nora."

"..worked didn't it?"

Their voices were muffled as they came through the walls. Jaune bumped his head against the mirror while he brushed his teeth. He tapped it several times with his forehead before pulling back.

 _Ok Jaune, you can do this. You're a team leader now and you need to act like it._

He rinsed his mouth, splashed his face with water, and stopped right in front of the door. After a deep breath he opened it. His teammates were sitting on Pyrrha and Nora's beds, the furthest part of the room from where he was. All three of them went quiet after he came out.

"I could still hear you in the bathroom you know." Pyrrha avoided looking at Jaune when he said that. Ren and Nora just shrugged. He shook his head before continuing, "Come on guys. You heard Professor Goodwitch. We should be making friends, not this. Team RWBY are our friends, so… So why are you so worried?"

The rest of his team gave him a look of disbelief.

"Ok, ok. Stupid question."

"Jaune, we're worried because they are our friends." Pyrrha started slowly. She held her hands in her lap and ran her thumbs over each other. "They're our friends, so we don't want them to be…"

She made a fist and stopped speaking. Nora cut in before Pyrrha could find the right words. "We don't want them to get hurt. If one of them winds up being, you know." She tapped her forehead. "Then the others are gonna get messed up worse because they're probably already messed up a little."

"It's best to think about this early, before you get too attached," Ren said softly.

"Ren, you're talking like it's a sure thing," Jaune plopped down onto Pyrrha's bed. "Come on, you can't really believe that? Can you?"

He shook his head, but still looked very uncomfortable. "I hope not, but some things feel too similar for me to ignore them."

"There are other, more subtle, signs than just the ones we've been told about in class so far." Pyrrha kept her eyes on her lap while she spoke. "Multiple semblances, inhuman abilities, and implausible skill: each of these can also be important to look at."

Jaune wasn't sure how she knew so much about this, but nodded anyway. "Ok, but if they were well, you know what, then they're supposed to be man-eating demons who want to destroy the world or something, right? They're all good people. I mean." He said while scratching his head, "I kinda freaked out when Yang first did her fire thing and Weiss is kinda scary and really smart, but I'm sure she's also a good person and just… _amazing_."

"That. That right there is why I'm worried." Nora waved her finger at Jaune, but he didn't really get why.

"What? Weiss? I mean, you've seen her right? And heard her singing? Anyone would.." Jaune waved his hands for emphasis, but Nora just shook her head. He grumbled. "Ok well, you're a girl so that probably doesn't… Unless you… No... Ren, you know what I mean, right?"

He looked at Pyrrha, who was staring at her lap, then shook his head.

Jaune sighed. "Alright, I can tell when I've lost. But, back to my point. Yang had a good explanation for her fire and none of the Professors are doing anything."

"They're doing a lot Jaune." Nora frowned at him. "Us and Team RWBY... we're the only teams who've had everyone fight more than once. We also get called on a lot in other classes."

"Urgh, don't remind me." Jaune dropped his head down in a very exaggerated movement.

"Doctor Oobleck does pick you more often than anyone else." Ren smiled.

"He has it out for me, I swear." Everyone else laughed a bit and the heavy air in the room retreated. They were just four friends complaining about classes again.

And then Pyrrha spoke up, bringing the tension back. "What Yang said today made me realize something. I've been paying so much attention to Yang, that I missed how Blake fights with the same degree of skill. Only, she doesn't showcase the discrepancy as much."

"What do you mean?" Jaune groaned slightly. He wanted them to get off of this topic.

"Jaune, how would you describe Yang?" Pyrrha finally looked up and met his eyes.

"Uhh, blond, tall, kinda," He gestured towards his chest. When the others just looked at him confused, he made large, curved motions in front of it. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes and made a fist. Jaune bit his lip and continued, "Ok, fine. She's really strong, aggressive, and showy. When I fought her, she literally ran circles around me until I got dizzy."

Pyrrha smiled, but her voice was wavering, unsure. "Right, she's showy. She wastes movement and leaves a huge number of openings. This is all so that she can show off more when her opponent fails to follow through properly. She fights like a champion going up against a novice, even against very skilled opponents. And she wins each time. She doesn't just win, she wins decisively."

"Pyrrha, you do the same thing!" Jaune said much louder than he meant to. Pyrrha pulled back, bringing both hands up to her mouth to stifle a gasp. "You're amazing in the ring. When you get out there, it's like watching some action movie heroine wiping the floor with everyone around them."

Nora winced and hissed. "Oh no, Jaune. You didn't just-"

Jaune looked up and saw the shock on Pyrrha's face.

"I'm sorry!" He cut Nora off and grabbed Pyrrha's arm, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I just…"

"No, no," She didn't pull away, but also didn't look at him again, "Don't worry Jaune. I-I understand what you meant. I hadn't thought about it like that is all… I learned how to fight in that manner to please the crowds. It has become, something of a reflex."

Jaune leaned forward and stared at the floor. He went over what he wanted to say a couple of times before looking back up.

"Look guys, I really don't think we should be worrying about this. I might've missed what our Professors were doing, but all of you caught it. That means there's probably other stuff we're not even aware of." He locked eyes with Ren and then Nora. "Your old teacher did the same thing and they weren't even trained Hunters. So, really I don't think you should be stressing about this. We should trust them. Can you all do that, at least?"

After a few moments, Ren and Pyrrha nodded. Nora rolled her head back and forth while the rest of them looked at her expectantly. Eventually she sighed and caved. "Ok, fine."


	11. Chapter 2-5

Ruby reached up to her room's doorknob and tried opening it again.

It was still locked.

She sighed and tapped her empty mug against her leg. It had been awhile since her last cup of coffee and the inevitable sugar crash was going to hit her soon. Moving around to warm up would also be a good idea, the hallway floor was too cold for just pajamas.

She stood up with a yawn and looked both ways down the hallway. No one was there and she couldn't hear anyone walking. There should be enough time to grab more coffee.

With a quick burst of her Semblance, she was at the machine. It wasn't anything special, just an automated caffeine dispenser with generic coffee. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it go any faster by glaring at it.

While it brewed, she dashed to the hallway, made sure no one was there, and dashed back to the kitchen. The machine was still working. Ruby drummed her fingers on the counter, resisting the urge to run back again and make sure she caught Blake.

Blake had been napping in the afternoon, so she could stay out later at night every day since Nora's RWBY vs JNRP thing. Ruby didn't worry about it first two times, since Blake had done something like that about one a week. But now they were on the third night in a row and it was becoming too much.

So, she overloaded on caffeine to stay up later, but didn't expect how much later it would need to be. When she stepped outside for her first refill, it was just past midnight. She'd had two more cups since then. Because she forgot her keys and scroll in her room, she didn't know what time it was.

Ruby could knock on the door until she woke up Yang or Weiss. But Blake had to come back eventually, so there wasn't a point to disturbing them. She just needed more coffee to stay awake and to be in the hallway at the right time… Unless Blake came back in through the window, but that would be silly.

She heard footsteps coming down the hallway. A couple of seconds later, Ruby tried to skid to a stop as she rounded the corner. Instead, she clotheslined herself on Pyrrha's arm. Ruby flipped heels-over-head and landed on her back.

"I'm sorry." The other girl gasped and ran over to help her up. "Are you alright?"

Ruby coughed a couple of times and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm good. Sorry about running into you."

"It's not a problem. Though, you should be a little more careful." Pyrrha backed up once Ruby was on her feet again. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Waiting for Blake to get back." Ruby looked down the hall again, then back to Pyrrha when she found it empty.

"Oh…"

"What about you? It's really late and…" Ruby paused, trying to find the right words. Pyrrha had all of her combat gear with her and was glistening from a light sheen of sweat. "... and you've got all of your stuff."

"I couldn't sleep and..." She looked down and paused.

Ruby focused and pushed hard. _You can trust me._

After a moment, Pyrrha continued, "Things have been a little tense lately. There are have been some… disagreements between Jaune, Ren, Nora, and myself." Ruby nodded while Pyrrha spoke. "Because I couldn't sleep, I went outside to do some drills while the weather's still nice. Being by myself like that is more calming than almost anything else I can think of. No one watching or judging, just me and Miló."

She laughed softly. "It sounds sort of silly to say it out loud."

"It's not silly. I do the same kinda thing." Ruby walked over to a window and pressed her hand against it. She looked into the night sky, but didn't listen enough to hear the music. "Looking at the stars and just listening to everything. Sometimes I do that for hours on end."

"I see." Pyrrha stepped next to her and looked up as well.

They stood there for a little while, watching the movements of the night sky. Each star had its own pattern, as did the rotation of the moon. It was most of the way to a full shatter, where the moon was seen on the smallest side and most of the body was fragmented.

Ruby listened deeper. The constellations each had their own style and melody, but it was the moon that changed the tone. Its influence slowly changed with its phase when it passed over the stars. Tonight it was partially obscuring the Gauntlet, shifting the song to an intense and dissonant sound.

The constellation was lined up so its fingers would move right into the full shatter in a couple of days. That would be something incredible to hear, she'd need to stay up for it.

"Ruby," Pyrrha said softly, "Do you believe in Destiny?"

"Like, destiny with a capital D? Big important stuff that's going to happen to you no matter what you do?" Ruby waited for a nod from Pyrrha. "Nope."

Pyrrha leaned back, eyes briefly going wide. She pointed to Ruby, then glanced to the stars, then back to Ruby. "But you… Given the way you described the stars, I was certain you would've."

"Why's that?"

"There is an old, not commonly known, sect whose priests look to the stars for guidance. It's said that the wisest among them can see the movements of the world in the sky and make predictions about the future. Though, because of how ridiculous that sounds and the lack of any verifiable predictions, few give much stock to such beliefs."

She pointed to one of the constellations, it was just barely visible through the clouds. "According to them, I was born under the sign of the Ascending Spear." Her voice brightened. "It's supposed to represent those who would be great warriors, who would be honorable and disciplined in their fights."

"I trained since I was young, in part because of this, and my first sponsor came to me because of my birth sign. He thought that it would make for a great story about my abilities and talent. Pyrrha, the Invincible Girl, who was Blessed by the Stars." She laughed softly. "It seemed so silly at the time, but I really got into it."

She paused and closed her eyes. "This has been on my mind more and more often since our initiation. How much of my success was me and how much was Destiny? Is there a divine plan or was it just good marketing?"

"I've wanted to ask everyone in Team RWBY about their own signs because of your skills as well. However, I couldn't find a way to without it sounding strange."

Ruby gulped and nodded. Pyrrha had been there when she did that splitting thing and had so many hard questions afterward. She was also really hard to stop once she got going. But, this seemed like it was really important to her.

"I don't really know too much about it." Ruby shrugged. "But, Mom always said that we could do anything, be whoever we wanted to be. Yang and I took that to heart."

She raised a spread hand to the stars and closed it. "If you see something that you want, you grab it and pull as hard as you can. Though, I don't think she wanted both of us to follow in her footsteps and become Huntresses. She kept pointing us at other options whenever we asked."

They stood in silence for a few more minutes. Ruby listened to the Spear as much as she could. It was a little tricky because of how faint the music was. It was part of the red grouping and really was very similar to Pyrrha's aura.

"Hey Pyrrha. What's the constellation for Hunters?"

"The strongest association would be the Banner, for glory in battle. Though they do align each of the symbols of Mars."

"Mars?"

"One of the Holy Maidens who preside over Destiny. They're worshiped both in mainstream practices and lesser known ones."

"Gotcha, there was just the one main god worshiped in our town in Patch. According to the priest, he was like a super Huntsman. Someone who people should emulate and follow on the path to greatness. But neither mom nor dad placed much faith in him since they also said to not bother him by asking for stuff."

"Each of our gods have their own associations, though the Maidens are considered the most important. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: each controls different parts of the world."

Ruby took a deep breath. If this was going where she thought it was going, she was pretty sure she knew what the answer to her question was. But she asked anyway. "What are the other things that Mars has?"

"Well…" Pyrrha paused. "She is associated with six constellations: the Banner, the Gauntlet, the Lightning Bolt, the Quiver, the Shield, and the Spear."

Ruby held her breath. If she listened to those six at the same time, it was very similar to her own Aura. She really didn't know how to feel about that. It wasn't too bad though, all things considered.

"She rules over all forms of conflict and strife, both large and small. Forging weapons and armor are also within her domains. As are strategic games." Pyrrha looked at her, a little worried. "Red is her color and summer her season."

Ruby gasped. "S-Summer…" She couldn't help stuttering while she tried, and failed, to keep her new anxiety from showing. "S-so, you could call her the _Maiden of Summer_? Like in that old fairy tale?"

Pyrrha blinked a couple of times. "I suppose so, but I don't think the four maidens from 'The Story of Seasons' have any connection with the five Holy Maidens."

"But they're..." Ruby coughed. Nothing made any sense! Well maybe one thing she'd been wondering about did now. But nothing else made any sense!

Ruby thought back to the forest with the beowolves, where all of this started. _Gods don't actually- but if they do, or did, and the maidens are also gods… But that would mean that she was a- And she said I would be- And that means Yang… No. no, no, no, no, no. That's impossible!_

"Ruby!" Pyrrha grabbed her arms and made her lose her train of thought. "Ruby are you ok?"

"Maybe? Sort of? I don't know." Ruby cringed and looked away from Pyrrha. "I just, umm… There's a bunch of stuff that is making some sense, but not other sense and..."

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"I know. I know. I… Umm…" Ruby grit her teeth and closed her eyes. One, two, three: she took deep breaths and counted to herself. After a moment, she looked right at Pyrrha, who had her hands clasped in front of her chest. "Ok. One last question. Does Mars have any particular symbols?"

Pyrrha gulped. "Well… There is a different one for each of her aspects, but also one which is universal. The spear and shield... It looks identical to the symbol that appeared on your forehead during our initiation."

"Oh, I see." Ruby said flatly. She was rubbing the part of her back where Crescent Rose normally sat.

That confirmed it. There was undoubtedly some connection, too many things were the same for it to be a coincidence.

"Is that what has you so worried? Having your Aura shine with the symbol of Mars would be considered a great blessing." Pyrrha laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"I… Umm, thank you, but..." Ruby didn't know how to describe her worry without it sounding really bad. She'd have to explain about all of the other stuff she'd figured out how to do that she shouldn't be able to.

"But?" Pyrrha furrowed her brow briefly. "But you're worried about… About the attention that it might bring?"

Sure, she could go with that. "Yeah."

Pyrrha let go and stepped back. "That's understandable."

"I don't think I'd be able to do something like that." Ruby awkwardly grinned. "Being someone that people might associate with a god. It sounds… Really stressful."

"It may give people more hope than you'd expect." Pyrrha smiled at her, then continued with a strained voice. "But, being in the spotlight all of the time and maintaining your mask can be… Trying."

"I wanted to be a Huntress to fight evil and give people hope but… I never wanted to be anyone special." Ruby paused and looked at Pyrrha. Her smile was mostly real, but Ruby could see her cheeks twitching as she held it. "There's no audience here Pyrrha. There's no one you need to impress."

Pyrrha dropped the forced smile and looked down. She partially crossed her arms, letting one dangle while the other held on. "I wish it was that easy. Once you've built particular habits, it's hard to break yourself from them."

After a moment of hesitation, Ruby stepped up and hugged her. Pyrrha froze, then leaned into it. "That's fine, we can wait. What else are friends for?"

"Thank you." Pyrrha mumbled and joined the hug after a moment's hesitation. They held it for a while before she spoke again. "If you want to read more about astronomy… I have a good book."

Soon after Pyrrha left, Ruby was close to nodding off again, even with another coffee refill. The astrology book didn't help with staying awake much since it was a lot closer to a textbook than a story book. Studying was hard enough at the best of times.

She was looking at the star charts, and comparing them to the song of the sky, when she heard the sound of heels scraping against the carpet. She snapped her head up and turned to the side just as her teammate rounded the corner. Blake was shrouded in darkness, standing just outside of the moonlight falling through the window. Ruby met her surprised gaze.

"Hi Blake."

"Ruby? What're you doing out here?"

"Waiting for you to get back." Ruby smiled and fiddled with the knob. "I also locked myself out."

"You didn't need to wait for me."

"Sure I did." Ruby stood up and walked over to her. Blake was dressed just like Pyrrha had been, wearing her combat gear. She was way less sweaty though. "I'm your team leader and your friend. So, if something's wrong, we should be able to just talk about it. But..."

Blake looked out the window. "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to get some air."

Ruby grabbed Blake's shoulders and turned her so their eyes met again. "You keep going out like this without telling anyone. I'm- We're worried Blake."

"You don't need to be worried." Blake raised her voice just enough to make it echo through the hall. "I just needed to get some air."

"Blake I-"

"It's nothing you need to worry about!" She shook Ruby off and stomped over to their room.

Ruby skipped to the side with her Semblance and stood in front of the door. "You wouldn't have reacted like that if there wasn't something I should worry about!"

"It's-it's not…" Blake hesitated and Ruby felt the pressure build. She pushed on the world as Blake drove past her again. _You can talk to me._

Ruby waited while Blake fumbled with her keys. She opened the door partially and turned back to Ruby. Blake took a deep breath and said. "Professor Goodwitch asked me to meet with her this weekend."

Both Weiss and Yang suddenly took quick breaths. Ruby moved to the side of the door so she could look in. Yang was sprawled out like she normally slept, her eyes were closed, and her mouth was hanging open.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Sorry I thought I heard something." Ruby laughed awkwardly. Both of them were breathing normally again. It must've been a coincidence. "Anyway, isn't that a good thing? She might have some cool project for you."

"I don't think so…" Blake grit her teeth. "She asked me to bring my weapons with me for it."

"That… It could…" Ruby stumbled over her words.

Professor Goodwitch was their combat teacher, so maybe it had something to do with the next class. She might be asking Blake to do a weapons demo since they were finished with martial arts. That would make sense, right?

Ruby couldn't delude herself like that.

Blake had been very confused when Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha talked about being investigated before. Since those three still wouldn't tell her or Ruby what it entailed, they had to assume it would be bad.

Blake wouldn't have any problems though, Ruby was sure of it. She hadn't done anything terrible like take over a town and make kids kill their parents. She didn't glow or have any weird symbols and her Aura was… Her Aura was _black_. Just like Ruby's was red, Weiss's was _white_ , and Yang's was _yellow_. Sure, they each had other colors mixed in thanks to various techniques, like Professor Goodwitch had blue and purple, but there was nothing bad.

"There's no problem, you'll be fine." Ruby laid a hand on her shoulder. Blake's eyes narrowed briefly. "You're a good person. And… and if anything bad happens, we'll be here for you."

The corner of Blake's mouth twitched before she responded. She looked down and to the side. "Thanks. That… That makes me feel a lot better."

Blake pulled away and stepped into the room. Ruby let her go, arm falling to her side.

 _I was just trying to make her feel better. What did I do wrong?_


	12. Chapter 2-6

It was the last day of the week. Classes were over with and it was time for the weekend! No lectures, no homework, and no responsibility!

Ruby just wished she could make everyone else feel as good as she did about it. The tension in the air was thick enough that she could cut it with a spoon.

Blake and Weiss had an all-out argument that morning about the White Fang's masks. Ruby didn't know how they got to that topic from villages outside of the kingdoms, but it ended about as well as the first big one.

They were sitting on opposite sides of the table, not looking at each other. Well, mostly not looking, Weiss did glance at Blake every once in a while.

Team JNPR didn't seem to be doing much better. They weren't talking to each other because Nora went behind Jaune's back and did something she promised not to. No one would tell Ruby what that something was though.

It made for a really awkward dinner conversation, which was mostly silence. After a few topic failures such as weapon mods, new music, and the really cool thing she found in Doctor Oobleck's lab, Ruby figured out one that might work. Or at least, it wouldn't make anyone mad at a teammate start another fight.

"Hey, Pyrrha. I've been reading more of the book you loaned me. It's pretty, umm, intense? Yeah, intense." Ruby had been expecting something more like a storybook, not a technical manual. It had star charts, huge lists of associations, and equations as complex as the ones in her advanced materials textbook. Though, a lot of it just made sense to her, unlike the materials book. For example, the color associations of different constellations were all spot on.

Her big problem was the stated themes for each of the constellations. At first glance, they all matched what she could hear. But, once the moon got close to them, everything changed and the book stopped making sense. Cloud cover also made a big difference. She was pretty sure there was another missing factor as well. Everything that she heard was a little off when compared to the ideas in the book. Unfortunately, she had no clue what it might be.

"The math's kinda hard to keep track of, but I think I'm close to figuring it out." Ruby rubbed the back of her head and smiled. "The formulas for the moon's phase keep giving me weird results too."

Pyrrha stared at her, eyes wide. "You're that far in already? I still don't understand all of those sections."

"Well, it seemed really interesting and something about it just sort of clicked. So, I've been reading it before going to bed every night." Ruby also really wanted to know more about her constellations. She could recognize and hum the tunes of only three of them so far. Even then, she messed up a lot of the notes.

"Have you tried making any predictions?"

"Yeah, but none of them came out right. I tried reading my own birth sign too, but got nonsense back every time." Which was to say, the book didn't have any examples of what her birth arrangement actually meant. She was sure that five of Mars's constellations aligning around a full moon should have had some sort of special meaning.

"It's an art that normally takes years to learn. Coming this far in such little time is still incredible."

"What're you two talking about?" Jaune joined in right after he finished reading the 'remember Ruby' note.

"An astrology book Pyrrha loaned me."

"Astrology? You mean like figuring out what your sign is or seeing the future?"

"Looking at signs and interpreting them is a major part of it. But, making predictions about the future is more of a fun thing to do, than something to be relied upon." Pyrrha pulled up a web page for the Mistral Junior Combat Tournament on her scroll. She pointed to the total betting pool for the next fight; it was huge. "People spend a lot of time and money trying to predict fight results, among other things. If anyone could see the future with any degree of accuracy, they would be immeasurably wealthy just from gambling."

"Yeah." Ruby nodded. "It's much closer to things like…" She snapped her fingers a couple of times, the word stuck on the tip of her tongue. "Like, will the next few days be good or bad?"

"Alright, so… How's this weekend going to be? Any luck coming my way?" Jaune glanced over at Weiss, who ignored him.

"Uhh…" Ruby was pretty sure the answer was bad for all of them. Something felt off and it wasn't just how much everyone was fighting. There was a looming danger in the air that gave her shivers whenever she tried to piece together what it might be. Jaune asking Weiss out again wouldn't cause that, no matter how annoyed with him she was.

"Jaune, predicting something like that requires a lot of personal information, in addition to several hours worth of work." Pyrrha saved her. "But, I could look into some aspects of your future tonight... If you want me to."

"Yeah, that'd be pretty-" Jaune was interrupted by a girl crying.

"Owww!" A voice that Ruby recognized from their history class cried out from behind Pyrrha. Her name was Velvi… No, Vela... Vel-something... She was quiet and didn't get called on much.

Ruby leaned to the side while the others turned around. A few tables down from them, Cardin Winchester was yanking on a poor rabbit Faunus's ear. He was sitting down and pulling her so low, her face was nearly on the table. The rest of his team was laughing.

Pyrrha growled. "Atrocious."

Jaune sighed. "That… That really sucks."

Ruby winced when the sound of warping metal hit her ears. Blake was squeezing her knife hard enough to bend it a little. She placed one hand on the table and was about to push herself away when Weiss stood up.

"Blake." Weiss locked eyes with Blake, her gaze frigid.

The pair stared at each other for several seconds, their expressions changing ever so slightly. Once more, Ruby really wished she could figure out what Weiss was trying to say when she did this. The anger and intensity in both of them were obvious, but there was an undercurrent of something that she couldn't make out. Well, probably more than one undercurrent, they all flowed together in Ruby's eyes.

"What're you going to do?" Blake broke the silence.

"Help her."

Blake nodded and set her knife down. She kept a close eye on Weiss as she slowly walked towards Cardin. The way Weiss moved sent shivers down Ruby's spine as it shifted from that mysterious anger to something new, something dangerous.

Weiss stalked forward with a smug smirk on her lips. She was smooth and ready, every motion that of a confident hunter sizing up her prey. Prey that had no idea what it was in for.

"Oh hey, does Princess Schnee want to play too?" Cardin leaned back and laughed, yanking the girl again. He held the fist holding onto her ear out to Weiss. "Come on, we're trying to figure out if these things are real."

Weiss smiled and laid her hand over his. A moment later, Cardin screamed.

"Why would you think I would want to partake in your lowly actions?" She spoke slowly, keeping her eyes on his teammates.

She squeezed the fleshy bit next to the base of his thumb between her nails, harder, and got another scream from him. Weiss slowly twisted his arm down, but he threw her off before she could get very far. His hand spasmed slightly as she backed away.

He started to stand up. She swept the legs out from under his chair before he could and sent him crashing to the ground. Cardin caught the tablecloth on the way down, yanking his dinner off the edge as he fell.

"Trash should stay on the ground where it belongs." Weiss looked down at him and then over to the girl. She laid a hand on the her shoulder and nudged her to the side. "Go."

The Faunus hesitated, stepping back slightly. She looked at Weiss with terror all over her face. Weiss glanced at Cardin and gave her a vicious smile in response. She ran for the entrance to the dining hall.

The other members of team CRDL pushed their chairs back and stood up. They stepped past the table and surrounded Weiss, cracking their knuckles and glaring at her. She ignored them, playing at checking the nails she pinched Cardin with. She twirled her other hand in a circle, pointing at each of the boys' feet in turn.

Cardin staggered up, noodles peeling away from his face as they fell off of him. He loomed over Weiss, his shadow covering her entire body, and clenched his fists. "You're gonna pay for that, Schnee."

Weiss raised an eyebrow and waved her hand. A pure white glyph appeared above each boy. An instant later, the ones she'd conjured beneath them started glowing. They glanced up and then down, their mouths hanging open as they finally noticed the glyphs. She flicked her hand up and sent them flying before they had the chance to dodge. Each boy was blasted up and away from her with a surge of white light.

A second wave smashed them into the ground. They crashed onto the furniture, snapping chair legs and shattering tables. None of their Auras broke from the attack, but the force of it left each boy woozy.

Everyone nearby jumped away from the destruction. The other conversations in the dining hall fell off. All eyes were on Weiss.

"I didn't give you mongrels permission to stand." Weiss stood in the center of the carnage, spotless.

Cardin tried to force himself up again. Weiss summoned a glyph right in front of his face. He hesitated, grit his teeth, and stopped moving. She dispelled it and smirked. "Good boy."

Weiss clasped her hands behind her back and paced around Cardin. "Now then. Do you have any idea what you were just doing?"

"I-" Before he could get more than a word off, she kicked him in the side of the head.

"I also haven't given you permission to speak either." She pulled back and continued pacing. "Now then. Where was I?" She paused for a moment, looking right at him. "Oh yes! The despicable action you were performing."

Weiss waved a hand at the crowd. She turned, catching half of the room in the motion. "Look around you. How many Faunus students do you see?"

She waited for Cardin to take the bait again. He just clenched his fists tighter, not speaking out of line.

"Beacon has a Faunus population of only two percent, compared to Vale's five percent. It's also the second-best academy in terms of representation and has more than enough money to bring disadvantaged students up to speed. It's almost like they don't want to attend, even considering the benefits they would gain doing so. I wonder why that is?"

"Could it be because they can see filth like you mistreating their brothers and sisters with no reprisal?"

He spit at her, but missed. "Big talk coming from you."

Weiss snapped her fingers and bounced his head off of the ground with a small glyph. Cardin groaned and curled up into himself, hands wrapped around his temples.

"Are you done?" Weiss said venomously. She loomed over him, tapping her foot and waiting. He whimpered; she smiled. "Good."

She moved back to lecturing, without missing a beat. "They see their friends and families in pain, so of course they would stay away. But do they really shy away from the responsibility that attending Beacon would entail?"

"When I last checked, almost nine percent of registered Hunters were Faunus. Most of them hadn't even gone to a combat school." She paused. "So, not only are the Faunus not attending elite academies, many aren't even going to regular schools. And yet, they disproportionately sign up to defend humanity from the evils of the world."

"They have less training, they have worse equipment, and they have to put up with people like you, even amongst their comrades-in-arms." Weiss's tone got a lot colder as she looked over the four of them. "What might happen if you had to retreat in the middle of the night? Would they stay with you and help you find your way? Or leave you to the Grimm? I would hardly blame them for assuming that you would throw them under a charging Ursa to save your own skin and acting in kind."

Weiss's image held the room in silence. People were glancing around, eyeing each other with suspicion. The handful of Faunus students received most of the looks, but they were all shaking their heads no. Abandoning someone to the Grimm like that would be a terrible thing to do. It would go against everything Hunters swore to protect.

That sense of danger was growing again. Ruby could see some people getting ready to speak up or object. They hesitated just long enough for Weiss to continue. Her voice was low, sad. "However, that isn't the worst thing that I saw, just now."

"People like you exist all around the world. Those who would hurt others for their own enjoyment. Because they have the power to. Because they know they can get away with it. That is an obvious evil that should be fought, but it isn't the real problem here." She stood up straight and turned in a slow circle. Piercing blue eyes met the crowd. With a snap of her fingers, a new glyph appeared in front of her mouth.

"The real evil of today is those who saw something bad happening and didn't do anything to fight it. The people who proved that Cardin was right, that he could get away with what he did." Her new glyph amplified her voice and made it resonate across the dining hall. Weiss conjured another one as a platform, and stepped onto one of the tables. Now that she was above the crowd she continued.

"Each of us is here to become a Protector of Humanity. A symbol of hope and justice in a world drowning in darkness. To see so many of you watch what was happening here avert your gaze is sickening."

"You would call yourselves guardians, but you can't even protect one of your own." The crowd flinched. "When I first stood up, there were only three people who looked like they might do something. Three."

"What were the rest of you afraid of? Four freshmen?" She gestured to team CRDL. "Ha."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves. What would your _family_ think if they heard about what you allowed to happen? Would they look upon you with pity, with sadness, or with scorn? Would you have abandoned them when they needed you?" Weiss turned around again, meeting everyone's eyes one by one.

 _Ruby saw her mom and dad in Weiss's gaze. They were looking away from her, tears forming in the corners of their eyes. She saw Yang, gritting her teeth and shaking with rage at her cowardice. Uncle Qrow, pushing her away and shaking his head. Even Yang's birth mother, looking at her with cold indifference and walking away._

Ruby dropped her elbows to the table and caught her face with her hands. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly, her fingers shaking.

She wasn't alone.

Yang was barely holding herself together, clenching her eyes shut so hard her face was turning red. Jaune blubbered into his arms, head on the table. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had their eyes closed while they shivered in their seats. All around the room, tears were flowing like waterfalls. Muffled apologies hit Ruby's ears as people started moving. Yang crept up on her with a hug.

"I'm sorry sis. I would never..." Yang whispered onto the top of Ruby's head.

"I know." Ruby leaned into her.

"No, no you don't. I-if I..."

"I know. I know." Ruby reached up to hold onto her and looked through the curtain of blond hair separating her from the rest of the world.

Blake was one of the only people who hadn't been affected, but the corners of her eyes were still wet while she watched Weiss.

Weiss had her head bowed and her hands folded in front of her. Ruby couldn't see her face, but she could hear her voice. "It doesn't have to be this way."

Weiss's voice was soft. So soft that no one should have been able to hear her, but they did anyway.

She slowly raised her head while the room silenced itself. "We can be guardians. We can be protectors. We can be Hope.

"All that we need to do is act."

The glyph in front of her faded away. She stepped down from the table and slowly walked back to her seat.

A few faces in the crowd looked up with their eyes brighter, but most remained downcast. They were still processing what she said.

The hair on the back of Ruby's neck rose.

Blake stood up and looked at Weiss.

"How much of that was real?" She whispered, not meeting Weiss's eyes.

"Does it matter?" Weiss raised an eyebrow and turned her head, looking at all of the people questioning themselves. Tears stained her cheeks, but her eyes were crystal clear.

"Of course it matters!" Blake hissed "You implied that the main reason people should-"

"Could you two PLEASE not do this right now!?" Yang snapped at them and wiped her nose on her uniform's sleeve.

Ruby pushed Yang's arms away and stood up. There were still tears on her cheeks, but she could wipe them off later. Weiss was right, she needed to do something. "Umm, we... We should…" She looked to team JNPR, each of whom was still staring at the table. "We should go."

Weiss smiled at her and nodded. "Yes. I'm glad that you're finally starting to understand."

She really wasn't, but that didn't matter. Ruby could feel the danger surrounding them in the depths of her soul. If they didn't leave right now, something terrible was certain to happen.

* * *

Author's Notes: There are a few numbers in this chapter that I wasn't sure of, but I couldn't find any good values from canon.

Also, thank you for the reviews, reading those and guesses is always fun for me. There was one question which came up that I wanted to answer.

For the line at the end of last chapter, Ruby had the impression that Blake wasn't being sincere with her thanks and that she wasn't reassured.


	13. Chapter 2-7

Team RWBY took the long way back to their dorm at Weiss's insistence. She led the way through Beacon's halls, making sure that they passed through the main hallway which led to the professors' offices. They were getting very close to the point of intersection.

She glanced back at her teammates to check on how they were handling everything.

Blake was still eying her with suspicion, hardly a surprise. She was understandably testy about any negative comparison that was made to the Faunus; especially when it wound up being slightly similar to part of their argument earlier in the morning. But, that part of the speech would have been weaker without it.

She'd apologize and explain her reasoning when they had more time. Blake understood the value of rhetoric, even if she came from a different school of thought regarding its use.

Yang was also worried, but for different reasons. She had reacted much worse than expected and seemed to be waiting for a fight that Weiss had no intention of giving her. Weiss was skilled and near the top of their class in combat, but the gaps above her were very large and Yang contended for top of that ladder. She would prefer matching wits with Yang, if it came down to it. That would be as one sided as them fighting physically, but the result would be in Weiss's favor.

It would be trivially easy to tear into Yang. The girl didn't have issues, she had subscriptions.

Ruby had finally calmed down, thankfully. She'd been on edge during dinner for who-knows-what reason, though Weiss trusted it to be a good one. Ruby alternated between impeccable acuity and utter naivety within the span of a single sentence so often that Weiss hadn't been sure what to make of the girl at first. But she'd proven to be a very quick learner.

Weiss would've been shocked if Ruby had understood the value of leaving before anyone could respond with questions or accusations when they first met.

Not having to introduce and push that course of action was a very welcome surprise. Undermining Ruby's perceived authority and leadership over team RWBY would have been a necessary, if unpleasant, blow to her confidence that was best avoided whenever possible.

Though, Ruby's confidence problems reminded her of another issue she needed to handle. There was a middle manager in refinement facility sixteen that needed to be removed. He was a blight on morale and the resulting efficiency loss was higher than the disruption replacing him would cause. It would also be good opportunity to push for additional representation as well. Unfortunately, none of the Faunus at that facility had a enough experience for the role.

She pushed that line of thought to the side, planning in abstract, because her real targets had arrived. The next conversation would require all of her focus, especially because her teammates were present.

"Good evening Professor Goodwitch, Professor Port!" Weiss bowed her head to the Professors and curtsied slightly. "I apologize for the disturbance, but something needed to be done."

The Professors were tense, likely expecting a fight or at least an argument, though neither had their weapon drawn. They were the ones with real power here, but most students did not recognize that and would challenge them at any point they could. Receiving a straightforward apology threw them off guard. Unfortunately, it did the same to her team. All three of them failed to so much as nod or wave to their Professors.

"Good evening Miss Schnee." Professor Goodwitch spoke first. Her tone still held a completely justified edge of suspicion to it. "We heard about what was happening in the dining hall from Miss Scarlatina."

She stopped there and met Weiss's gaze. She'd been left to fill in the missing information. Normally, this would be an excellent interrogation technique, but Weiss had been counting on it happening. There was a reason that she sent someone out of the room before she began her speech.

Weiss nodded at Professor Goodwitch and slightly smiled. "I intervened when team CRDL was tormenting her. I don't know how many other Faunus they've mistreated, but..." She looked to Professor Port. "I felt like it was important to act as soon as I noticed the problem. 'To lead by example and show them the world that I want to live in.'" She quoted his own words from yesterday's class at him.

Professor Port briefly frowned and wiggled his moustache. It was another tactic to throw them off balance. So many students slept through his class or failed to take proper notes. Eventually, he nodded."An action befitting a true Huntress. But that was not all that we heard. Miss Scarlatina compared your state to the first time she saw a Grimm bearing down on her."

Weiss barely resisted flinching from how obvious he was being. He was directly comparing her to a Grimm! He should be better at this; from the way Professor Goodwitch tensed her fingers, she likely agreed. She also kept glancing at the rest of team RWBY, who were still stunned by the situation.

"I was…" Weiss briefly paused for effect, looking up and to the side as if she was searching for the right word. "Quite angry when I spoke to her." She paused for a longer period, only looking at Professor Port after a proper amount of time had passed and he was about to speak. "I've been told that my gaze is very intense before, but would never have thought it would have that sort of effect."

Blake reacted at the worst possible time, narrowing her eyes as soon as the words left her mouth. This tendency of hers made their debates much more interesting than they would've been if Weiss could embellish more, but it was a massive hindrance now.

Weiss cursed internally, but didn't miss a beat as she continued. "It may be due to my name. The Schnee are not known for good relations with many Faunus. _She might have suspected I would do something worse to her, instead of helping._ " She spoke with a resigned tone, but laced her words with feelings of understanding and coherence.

Weiss glanced down and to the side of the Professors for a moment, letting a bit of guilt show. Before they had the chance to challenge her theory, she looked back up.

"I'll need to apologize to her as well. I didn't mean to scare her, but I meant every word that I said." And Blake reacted again. All Weiss could do was hope that the Professors hadn't figured out what this tic meant. It was a subtle movement in her eyes, but not so subtle that someone normal would miss it. "You don't need to worry about team CRDL, I only wounded their pride. Their Auras never broke."

The casual displays of what would otherwise be incredibly lethal violence were some of the hardest parts of Hunter culture for her to get used to. Truthfully, she still didn't know exactly where the line between a fight not being a problem and it going too far fell. However, the point where someone suffered bodily injury seemed like a good one to avoid crossing.

Earlier that week, she saw Professor Goodwitch break up a lover's spat that resulted in one of them getting punched through a wall and into her classroom. They got punished for disrupting class, for not endangering others or the incredible amounts of property damage it must've caused. Though, her ability to reconstruct any damage probably had a great deal to do with the leeway students were given for the later.

"Though, I will admit that the way that I accused those who sat by and watched may have been a bit harsh. Their inaction and avoidance of the issue was what made me so angry in the first place."

Ruby nodded in agreement at the same time as a glint of comprehension struck Yang's face. Some help in this matter would be incredible. Ruby… Ruby was a child adrift in shark infested waters. She likely didn't know what they were really talking about, but wouldn't do too much damage either way. Her earnestness about fighting the Anathema could be a huge boon, if it was capable of being directed properly.

Yang, on the other hand, understood the value of appearances and plausible deniability. Her nighttime escapades proved that fact. Even if the blond chose to act in a salacious and heedless manner, most of the time.

"Yeah, you really have a way with words." Yang chimed in, grimacing. "I couldn't help thinking about what Ruby would think of me ignoring her like that."

Both Professors narrowed their eyes at Weiss, their suspicion greater than before. She resisted the very strong urge to pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh.

 _Yang, you're not helping._ Weiss grumbled internally. She gave the Professors an honestly nervous smile and folded her hands behind her back. As soon as her fingers were out of sight, she twirled them, crossing an X in the air.

"But, considering how often you and Blake do that stuff, I wasn't too surprised."

 _Yang stop helping!_ What wouldn't Weiss give for the ability to communicate telepathically right now? Truthfully, a large number of things were far more useful than that would be, but it would make this situation so much easier! Though, it was still salvageable.

Weiss waved a hand to the side to draw their attention back to her and met both Professors' eyes before speaking. There was an avenue which Yang inadvertently opened for her. "Blake and I have been debating current events and practicing how to form effective arguments. _Practice makes perfect, and many of our classmates may have never been exposed to such things in the past. Leaving them more vulnerable than otherwise expected._ "

Doing that again was a risk, she knew that. Drawing on any more of her Aura would leave her exposed. But, not doing it was not an option. Not with the stakes being both her and Blake's lives!

Thankfully, both Professors seemed to accept this argument. They relaxed their stances and moved back to neutral expressions. Weiss smiled as they glanced to each other, eyes meeting. Professor Goodwitch nodded slightly, then looked at Weiss.

Professor Port cleared his throat and looked right at her as well. "Miss Schnee. This weekend, I'm going on a blood-pumping, Grimm-trapping mission. It would be a fine experience for a young Huntress-in-training such as yourself."

It was an offer that wasn't truly an offer. Refusing him would be suspicious, so would accepting without any thought. Weiss moved her jaw back and forth while licking her lips, even though she already knew what she would ask for.

"That would be quite an experience and I would be honored to take part in it. But…" She paused for effect. "Could we call it extra credit? I'd thought that freshmen don't go on missions until their second semester."

Professor Port brought a hand up to stroke his moustache. He hmmed for a moment before snapping his fingers. "All yes, of course. Extra credit would definitely be in order."

Weiss smiled and nodded. The Professor's looked at each other again, then to each member of Team RWBY. They hesitated when they reached Blake. Hopefully, this would take some of the heat off of her.

"Hmm." Professor Port wiggled his moustache in thought, again. He suddenly stopped and laughed. "Glynda, what do you think about me taking over your meeting as well?"

She was as surprised as Weiss was. Both of their eyes went wide as they stared at him. Taking both of them on a mission like that? That made no sense at all! Why would he even consider it?

"I, umm." She recovered quickly with a sudden comprehension in her eyes. "Do you think you can keep watch over all of them?"

That was an interesting way of phrasing things; which made even less sense! Why would she ask about all of them? As far as Weiss knew, they were just looking into her and Blake right now. Also, why was she going along with this crazy idea? It was completely against standard procedure!

"I think it would be a good experience for all. You don't really know someone until you've hunted a great beast alongside them."

Professor Goodwitch scanned his face for a moment. "Very well. Miss Belladonna." Blake looked like a deer in headlights. "I do still wish to speak with you, but we can delay that until you return."

"Woo!" Ruby thrust an arm into the air while she cheered. "Adventure time for Team RWBY!"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang all turned to Ruby, stupefied.

Weiss could not think of a good reason why she would be excited about this. It just threw more variables into the equation. The entire team coming along made it that much easier to lose control of the situation and make a fatal mistake.

Unless... Did Ruby realize what they were talking about? Was that why she was so excited? Did she suspect one of them?

Ruby was naive, not stupid. Hidden behind her reckless energy and child-like love of simple things was a highly intelligent mind. Though it normally only showed itself when she spoke about technology or combat tactics.

Weiss searched Ruby's eyes for a hint of malice, but found nothing except for joy and a bit of worry. Weiss wondered, _What does she know that I don't? What level is she playing this at?_

* * *

That night, the shattered moon glowed over top of Beacon's central tower.

Blake liked looking at the moon. It was the main source of light in the night sky when she was at camp outside of the Kingdoms. She never took part in the Anathema worship, but those who did described it as beautiful and soothing. She wouldn't go that far, but it was still nice because of how much it let her see.

She still felt the adrenaline coursing through her as she looked up the cliff face to the campus, away from the fallen Grimm.

Ruby had protested when she went out again, but she needed this. The morning was bad enough. Now she had tomorrow's mission to worry about too. Sleep had to come second to staying in control.

After a moment of listening, she focused her Aura in her legs and pushed off. One giant leap sent her up to the top of the cliff, landing at the edge of a small grove of trees. It was the type of leap that veteran Huntresses might be able to do if their Semblance aligned with it correctly.

This grove was a very popular spot for a lot of students for a number of reasons.

For Blake, it was because she could afford to practice moving like that here. This was one of the few locations on campus without any cameras watching it and people were rarely here late at night.

She landed on soft grass, in the shadow of a tree. While she hadn't heard anyone talking, she could tell from the smell alone that she wasn't alone tonight. The harsh mingling of hard liquor and sweat permeated the air.

Blake crept up to the nearest tree and peered around it. Two boys were passed out, leaning on a nearby building. A bottle of rum was on its side between them with a second, with an additional empty bottle next to it. She couldn't tell how much had spilled on the ground, but the boy's faces were bright red, even while they slept.

She let out the breath she'd been holding and stepped out into the light. She was far enough away from them that they might not have seen her even if they were awake. She'd need to be more careful when they got back. For now though, she needed some sleep.

"Blake," Yang's voice echoed from behind her, "We need to talk."

Blake pivoted in a quick circle, looking at all angles for Yang. She reflexively reached for her blade, though she didn't draw it. After a moment of searching, she found her target.

Yang was in her combat gear, standing on one of the branches with a stupid grin on her face. She wasn't even bothering to hide, just leaning on the tree. Blake frowned and let go of her weapon. _How did I miss her?_

Yang hopped down, landing quietly on the grass.

A shiver ran down Blake's spine. Had Yang seen her jump? While she'd never been as vehement as Ruby or Weiss, Blake didn't know where Yang actually stood on a large number of very important topics.

For better or worse, Ruby wore her heart on her sleeve. Blake knew that she would never be able to be completely honest with her.

More confusingly, Weiss lied through her teeth whenever she ranted about the inherent evils of the Anathema, but Blake didn't know which part was a lie. Did she think they weren't evil, which would be strange, or just that the evil wasn't necessarily inherent? Until she knew which one it was, Blake couldn't talk to her either.

Yang deflected or ignored the question whenever it came up. But, she seemed like she agreed with Ruby, at least in broad strokes.

Blake needed to choose her words very carefully. The Professors already suspected her and if her own teammate gave her away, that would be it.

While she thought about what to say, they stared at each other's eyes. Yang shifted her expression a lot. Blake could tell this wasn't a conversation she could just walk away from when Yang was practically screaming " _Come on already. I'm not going away."_

"There's nothing that we need to talk about." She tried anyway.

Yang crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm not my sister. You're not going to get rid of me that easily."

At least Blake's suspicion that Yang had been awake that night was confirmed.

"It's nothing that you need to be worried about. I…" Blake paused and chewed on her lower lip. She had an argument prepared for this, but checking her scroll would just look silly. If she could just get Yang to back off, it would be fine. "I just needed to get away from it all. To get ready for tomorrow."

Yang's frown deepened. "The mission tomorrow is why we need to talk."

She stepped forward and drummed her fingers on her arm. Blake wasn't going to get out of this by staying on the defensive. She took a moment to think about Yang, about what she cared about and what made her give up on things before. There was one giant target.

Blake closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. Hopefully this wouldn't hurt her partner too much. "Why do you even care? You're around less than I am."

"I'm… There's a good reason for that." Yang lied, barely covering her flinch by clenching her teeth.

"Well what is it? You take a new person for a _bike ride_ every third day. Do you think we're stupid? We can see that you're avoiding us." The accusation wasn't entirely fair. Yang always came back smelling only of dirt, motor oil, and Dust. Blake knew what hadn't happened, despite appearances to the contrary. But, if it got Yang off of her back, she'd take it.

"I think that you, of all people, would understand why I'm doing that."

"Doing what? Avoiding making any sort of real connection with people?" Blake twisted the knife. The pain on Yang's face was obvious, so was the anger simmering behind it.

"Yeah, because Ice Queen counts as a real connection. How do you think she'll react to the real you?"

Blake ears strained against her bow and her blood ran cold. How did Yang know about that? On second thought, which of the things that she was hiding was Yang talking about? She couldn't see Weiss reacting well to any of them.

In the end it didn't really matter because she wasn't about to admit to hiding things. Yang was definitely hiding something though. Blake took a shot in the dark. "How will Ruby react to you?"

Yang's eyes flared red. "She's the reason why I-" She slammed her mouth shut, her teeth audibly clicking.

"You know what? Fine. If you're going to be like this, we'll do it the hard way." She uncrossed her arms and stomped towards Blake, her gauntlets deploying. "I meant what I said before Blake. You're one of the only people I can't beat if I go all out."

"If you care about fighting so much, then challenge one of the seniors to a duel." Blake back pedaled, keeping her distance. She'd definitely pushed too hard. Yang had never been this angry before.

"Stop _ignoring_ what I'm really saying." Yang's eyes blazed as she moved faster.

"Stop projecting your own issues onto-" Blake was cut off by her back hitting a tree. Her hand went to her weapon again, but she was too late.

Yang grinned savagely and surged forward. When she was two steps away, she reared up and stomped, practically kicking the ground. A wave of dirt rippled out from her foot. Blake fell onto the tree as the earth shifted underneath her. Yang stepped again and came in with a straight, not wasting any of her momentum.

The form was the same as her fight with Ren, but everything else about it was utterly inhuman.

Blake felt time slow as her partner's attack moved towards her. The air in front of her fist warped and spiraled to the sides in violent ribbons. Yang punched through the shock wave, tearing it to shreds as she moved closer.

Her hair blazed with a painful light. Its rays bounced off of her gauntlet, right into Blake's eyes. The flash left her seeing spots. It made her miss the second, stronger flash from Yang's off-hand. Everything was only light and darkness now, barely any color or texture. Yang was like a Grimm, faded red eyes on pitch black skin.

She could barely make out Yang's arm as white hot flames ran up it and ignited the fractured air. But she didn't need her eyes to know what was coming.

Blake tried to move, but knew that she wouldn't be fast enough. She was staring death in the face. Even a glancing blow would shatter her Aura and her body. She needed more than just speed, more than her Aura or her Semblance.

Blake reached deep inside of herself to a fragment of a memory she never wanted to relive.

She'd only done this once before, moved through an attack that would certainly destroy her. She needed to walk with certainty, to move without moving, to declare herself unassailable and force her way through any barriers in her path.

She pushed off the tree and moved forward. The heat from Yang's punch seared her face as it came closer and closer. She couldn't see it, but she didn't need to.

 _Blake stepped between moments._

She ended back to back with Yang. Blake spun around just in time to catch sight of the impact with the tree.

The black wood crackled and burned where Yang's knuckles connected. A web of fire spread through the valleys of the bark. A wave of force pulsed through the surface, making the bark ripple outward. At the same time, it twisted, tearing at the tree's flesh.

The tree exploded into hundreds of splinters, bright fragments turning into an incendiary whirlwind. Blake raised an arm to cover her eyes.

She was tapped out, her Aura broken and her body vulnerable. Any yet, most of the splinters bounced off of her skin as if it was still present.

A few large ones caught her in the arm, some more hit her head, but most of them failed to do anything. When she lowered her arm, there were a few tiny cuts. She focused on them and flexed. The wounds sealed themselves. A second thought stopped the blood running down her face from getting any worse.

The only real problem was the splinter that pierced her bow. Her hidden ear throbbed, but she could deal with that later.

Blake blinked color back into the world as Yang moved back to a neutral position. She slowly turned around. "I didn't say you were the only _student_ I couldn't beat."

Blake wiped the blood from her forehead before it fell into her eyes. Her eyes were locked on Yang's brow. Something was there now, shimmering in the darkness.

Yang was staring at her forehead as well. Blake laughed nervously. "Oh… That's what you… I didn't think… Umm... I guess we do have something to talk about."

That answered one of her questions, and explained a lot about why Yang was so nervous around Ruby, but opened up so many more.

Blake looked from the exploded tree to the, mercifully, still unconscious boys. "Follow me."


	14. Chapter 2-i

Glynda sighed as the door to Professor Ozpin's office slid open. She'd finished compiling the observation reports and knew that he wasn't going to like the results. She almost stepped in, but hesitated when she saw what he was currently doing. However, the door had been unlocked, so it must not be too secret.

A hologram of General James Ironwood was standing on the desk, hands clenched tightly behind his back. He was in his full uniform, with the same regulation haircut that he'd worn for the past twenty years.

She called out, "Excuse me. Am I interrupting something?"

Professor Ozpin waved his hand. "No, no. Please come in. The results of those reports may decide our argument."

"Glynda." The hologram turned around and bowed his head. "It's been a long time. Wonderful to see you."

"Likewise James. I hope your autumn flurries have been light this year." Glynda nodded to him and walked up to the desk. She checked the icon next to the hologram, confirming the secure line. "Is the room secure?"

Professor Ozpin pressed several keys on his desk. The heavy locks on his door loudly shifted into place while the windows dimmed.

"It is now." Professor Ozpin nodded and leaned back in his chair.

A quick swipe on her scroll threw the results up for both men to see. "Unfortunately, we are no closer to finding the Anathema than we were two weeks ago. All four primary suspects are still performing substantially above average, yet also too similarly to each other to rule any out. I can only hope that Peter's investigation will result in something more conclusive."

"I'll need to talk Klaus down when he hears of this." James sighed. Dealing with the Schnee patriarch was not a task Glynda envied him. "He was not happy with Weiss's decision and her being investigated by anyone, except a Schnee, will just make him more irritable."

"He's fully recovered then?" Glynda hadn't heard of how his treatment was going. The attempted assassination was no surprise, he'd been the highest priority target for the White Fang since they changed tactics. How close they came to succeeding was a shock.

It occurred shortly before Beacon received Miss Schnee's confirmation of attendance. A White Fang sympathizer had gained employment at the Crystal Palace and almost succeeded in killing him. Of course, all investigations into it were performed by Hunters on the Schnee payroll. As a result, there was a substantial amount of spin on any information released. The fact that actual injuries were sustained was only reported to senior Hunters in order to prevent the SDC from taking a larger stock hit.

"A man with his Aura and money? He'd physically recovered within a month. Mentally and financially…" James paused. "He still spends most days sequestered in his castle and runs the SDC remotely. Their policies have changed for the better for their lowest ranking employees, Faunus in particular. This is something that their investors have not been happy with because of the lowered profit margin."

He chuckled slightly. "Maybe his brush with mortality has thawed his heart some."

Glynda nodded. "While any event such as that is tragic, and I do wish that they never happen, I can hardly disagree with those results. Especially since better opinions on such matters seem to have spread to Miss Schnee as well." She paused for a moment. "Regarding your eventual conversation with him. There are also some things that we've found which may make it easier."

"Our initial gambit confirmed several of our suspicions. Miss Schnee is most definitely aware of what the standard stage two investigation procedures are. Whenever we broke from them, she reacted differently than expected. Her father knows the danger of telling someone what to expect if a formal investigation is called."

"You broke from them so significantly that I was shocked, even though I knew it would happen." James shook his head. While Glynda agreed with him, she would not give him the satisfaction of her direct approval. She would never hear the end of it if she took his side after she came up with the plan in the first place.

"We had planned for a large number of exceptions to be made considering the number of people we're looking into. Peter also succeeded at provoking further reactions from the other members of team RWBY. While none of them were terribly surprising considering their histories, I would still call the plan a success."

Professor Ozpin hmmed before speaking. "And the incident from last night?"

"Nothing substantial." She shook her head. "Neither Mister Azure nor Mister Persimmon can recall anything that they did after ten PM. Security footage shows Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long, and Miss Nikos leaving the monitored portion of the campus prior to the explosion. All three returned after it occurred, from different directions. They each had enough time to move to the site and back to where they returned."

"Nothing useful then."

"No." She shook her head. "Of the three, only Miss Xiao Long could accomplish something like that. Even then, she would have needed to take a significant number of hits first to use her Semblance. All that can be said about this incident is that it decreases the chance that our target is Miss Schnee or that there are none. However, it also increases the chance that we're dealing with multiple Anathema. Which, if true, means that many of our previous observations would need to be reconsidered."

Glynda's greatest fear was that possibility. Having multiple Anathema active at the same time wasn't unheard of, but it was incredibly rare for any to last more than a few weeks. They drew too much attention to themselves and were often civilians with no combat capability. The last time it happened was decades ago, when she was still a novice who didn't appreciate the true danger they posed.

One appeared in Mistral, a fighter participating in one of their annual tournaments. Only three days later, another was found among Vacuo's Hunters. They both went to ground quickly and remained hidden for months. Their existence was only barely kept from becoming mainstream knowledge through a very costly information blackout and restricted travel between Kingdoms. A lucky break revealed the first before their obfuscation fell.

He was found in Atlas while his stolen airship was refueling. He had been en route to meet the second and would have succeeded if it wasn't for a beggar, who knew the ship's actual captain, reporting the stolen vessel.

Having one appear among their students would be bad enough. Two, especially two that had remained hidden for so long, would inspire a panic the likes of which she would prefer not to have to contemplate.

"There are other options." James threw Miss Rose's profile to the screen and highlighted their current appraisal of her. "You're still overlooking the most obvious candidate."

Professor Ozpin sighed in response. This must have been what they were arguing about when she arrived, again. Though this time they didn't have any prying ears around so more could be said on the topic.

"I don't understand why you and Qrow are both adamant that she cannot be target. She fits the profile in every way except for color and the shape of her sign."

"As I've said before, I am incapable of explaining why I am so certain. I would need to show you directly or the knowledge would be forgotten by the time we next spoke."

"Then you can show me when I come to inspect the grounds for the Vytal festival."

Both Professor Ozpin and Glynda blinked at him.

"What? It's a good enough excuse as any other."

"You would need to master the Bleached Soul technique before I can safely show you."

"An ancient technique from Vale that requires being isolated and tortured for weeks to learn." James said deadpan and shook his head. "I still don't have the time for that, none of us do. Not while Her agents still walk through our lands freely."

"The technique is vital because we would need to travel to the edge of Her domain."

"You can't take a picture or bring it here?"

"No, it's magical in nature."

Glynda sighed and rubbed her temples. The number of things to which that statement applied infuriated her. Especially considering how often it was said when it came to their strategies against Her.

They all knew who their enemy was, but avoided speaking Her name in case it drew her attention. Even if it was just a silly superstition passed down from ancient times, one needed to be careful when working against magical forces beyond their comprehension.

Day by day, they solved the mysteries of the world and reduced Her influence. Victory may not happen within any of their lifetimes, save perhaps Professor Ozpin, but she was certain that humanity would eventually triumph over the darkness that surrounded them. Though this particular topic was one that they had a great deal of success in, which may be a key tool for their next steps.

"The technique is not as dangerous or time consuming to learn anymore." Glynda broke the silence. "I've been working on mastery since the beginning of the Semester so that I can see the truth about Miss Rose with my own eyes." She shook her head and looked right at the hologram. "I'm sure that even someone as busy as yourself would be able to-"

"Send me the manuals, I'll have it done in four weeks." He cut her off, accepting the challenge before she finished it. Some things were still predictable, even after all these years. "Though that does bring me to another, very worrying, topic…"

He paused and sighed, clenching his hands again. "There have been… Problems with the excavation."

The Atlas military had been investigating a ruin that was unearthed by one of the most recent, deep Dust, mining operations. From what they could tell, it dated before the Colorless Period. Everyone was very excited about the possibilities because of the incredible artifacts they found at the last site of this nature.

"Is there anything that we can do to assist?" While Glynda herself was hardly an expert, they could have Doctor Oobleck on-site within a week.

"If only you could." He sighed. "These are problems that may require the action of one of the Maidens to resolve."

"Calling them out of hiding isn't something that we can do lightly." Professor Ozpin said softly.

"No it isn't. However, we may not be able to proceed without their assistance." He pulled up an image of two enormous doors. They were inlaid with complex ruins that seemed quite similar to the walls in the depths of Beacon's foundation, though they were much more ornate and complex. The doors, and the walls next to them, also appeared to be carved from solid Orichalcum.

"The opening mechanism requires the use of more Aura than any of our sorcerers can control. Even when they're augmented by high grade Dust, the doors remain still."

Both of them nodded. That would be something that one of the Maidens would be able to assist with without much issue. They had succeeded at making use of highly taxing equipment in the past due to their magical abilities.

"Would you be able to gain access in any other way?"

"Potentially. I wouldn't have brought the matter up were it just this, but there is a larger problem." He shifted the screen to a time line of reports. "My men reported seeing someone lurking in the shadows near the ruin. We attempted to flush them out and took as many precautionary measures as we could: improved lighting, extra patrols, and as many cameras as we could place. Since then, we've suffered from an improbable number of equipment failures and malfunctions."

"Lights explode, cameras break, and rifles go off exactly when someone steps in front of the barrel. My men were spooked. We suspected sabotage... Instead we found this." He shifted the image to a grisly scene. A man was slumped against the side of the doors, sword at his feet. His chest had exploded outward, leaving a trail of blood and gore on the ground. His face was twisted, frozen in terror and pain. At the side of the image, there was a white mist which flowed away from the man.

"The soldier who took the picture reported that she saw a pale woman, wearing ancient armor, tear his heart out. She supposedly threw the heart to the ground, screeched at the solider in tongues, and then faded away. Of course, there was no other proof of what happened, only Private Rios's word and this image."

"It's possible that it could still be sabotage with the soldier covering for the murder. Alternatively, a Semblance or a new type of Grimm." Glynda said softly. She was not convinced this was the case, but needed to put the idea out there to make sure they covered all of the possibilities.

"We thought so at first." James paced back and forth. "She was removed from the site and interrogated. Nothing came of it." He stopped and closed his eyes. After a moment he continued. "The Semblance idea was disproven by yesterday evening's discovery."

He shifted the image again. This one just had police chalk around the blood. "Two more bodies were found in the same state. These were miners who were hundreds of feet above the ruin. The witness described the woman passing through the tunnel wall to touch them and then pinned him to the wall with an iron spike."

"We set up Aura monitors around the location. Which have produced nonsensical results: a negative background energy level, random blips with no discernible pattern, and the occasional surge strong enough to overwhelm the sensor's feedback response. The sensors always break shortly after the surge. But, the surge only occurs if nothing is watching the sensor." The hologram didn't have the resolution to show it, but Glynda was certain that James was grinding his teeth. "There's something unnatural happening in the ruin. Something that's beyond the capabilities of my specialists."

Professor Ozpin closed his eyes and laced his fingers. He sat like that for nearly a minute, his face completely still.

He relaxed before speaking. "I'll contact Leo as soon as we finish this call. It is a risk, but this may provide us with rewards which more than justify it."

James nodded. "Thank you."

"It will likely take several weeks for them to arrive. What do you plan to do in the meantime?"

"We've shut down access to the mine and placed an elite Specialist team at the entrance. They, along with all nearby personnel, will be monitored by at least two people and one camera at all times."

"There is something else you may wish to try." Professor Ozpin paused. "Salt."

"Salt?"

"Ancient mystics were said to use circles of salt to hold in wayward spirits. A superstition, but one that may be of use."

"It would be difficult to justify such a strange method to most specialists…" He raised a hand to his chin and paced. "Schnee may be the most receptive considering some of the stranger experiments that the SDC has performed in the past."

Glynda tapped her scroll while she thought. Winter Schnee would be an ideal candidate to assist for a number of reasons. "If you can convince her to help you, then you may be able to convince the others that it's an experimental form of Dust that is not to be touched by anyone except for experts. While this wouldn't stand up to any real scrutiny, it could buy time."

James nodded. "Good idea."

He bowed his head to Professor Ozpin and then to her. "Ozpin, Glynda, thank you for the suggestions. I'll keep you posted on the results."

The hologram winked out.


	15. Chapter 3-1

"Students!" Professor Port stood in front of the rear ramp of the Bullhead. "Our mission takes us to the northern coast, outside of Vale. The border patrol reported a pack of Beowolf Alphas moving with a horde of Beowolves towards the upper Forever Fall two days ago. Normally this would not be a cause for alarm, but there have been several tremors in the area. As for why that's important, do any of you know the reason why the forest has its name?"

"The trees?" Ruby quirked her head to the side, swaying back and forth with the turbulence.

"Yes and no. While the eternally red leaves were a major component of the choice, there is a second part. The sheer cliff that protects the northern border of Vale. No Grimm can survive a fall from such a height. I should know, my team and I spent a great deal of time throwing them off of it in our youth. Ahh, border duty." He laughed deeply and loudly, voice echoing in the cramped ship. "Long nights under the stars, a fine companion by your side, and none of the distractions of the city. There's nothing else like it.

"However, the river of time causes all things to eventually crumble. If part has collapsed, and formed a tall enough scree for the Beowolves to land on, then the nature of our hunt will be very different."

Ruby pulled up the map that he'd given them on her scroll. It showed the route they'd take along the upper cliffs. It wound all the way along the border and was way longer than she'd been expecting, even though he told her to pack heavy. She picked up her ammo bag and tested the weight. It was way more than anything she'd carried at Signal, but would it be enough?

She looked at her teammates, who all seemed to be thinking about the same thing considering how they were looking at their own bags. Weiss was probably the one most hurt by that limit. Even though her rapier was a masterpiece, it needed a lot Dust to reach its full potential. Yang also burned through her shells really fast and they took up more space than raw Dust. Blake, whose Dust needs were small by comparison, had volunteered to hold onto the sleeping bags so everyone else could bring more ammo.

Of course, a long trip did explain why they were bringing ATVs instead of just walking.

"But, we'll only worry about that if we find one. Otherwise this will be your standard deep scouting and trapping mission. With our luck and skill, we'll bag three Alphas and be back to Beacon by Thursday."

"Question!" Ruby raised her hand, only continuing after Professor Port nodded. "Why are we going to be out so long? Can't we just take on the pack and whittle them down to the ones we want today?"

"An excellent question!" Professor Port laughed again. "While the five of us would have the might to simply charge in and destroy them, such a solution would not always be the best choice in the field. What would you do if such a horde was approaching a group of refugees traveling on foot?"

"Uhh…" Ruby considered it for a moment. With that many Grimm, a few would break away to go after the civilians no matter what they did. "Encircle and corrall them with someone designated to take out any that get through. Someone with good speed and ranged power so… Anyone in our team would be ok. But, I'd put you, Weiss, or myself there if I had a choice."

If they were all equally experienced, she'd never assign Professor Port to that role. His build and weapon would be better suited to a different position, something where he could stay relatively still and use his raw power to take out big targets. But in this case, he should be so much better than four students that it wouldn't matter where he went.

"Indeed. A very good strategy against Beowolves" He nodded. "Now. What would you do if several Ursa and Boarbatusks were included?"

"Hmm." Ruby thought harder. Both the bear and the boar Grimm could barrel through many light defenses without any problems. The Boarbatusks could also spin up and roll fast enough to break through a gap. They'd need the wall to be tighter, with heavier Hunters, but you'd need more people to manage that thanks to the slower speed.

"Easy. You lure them away." Yang chimed in. "Get the nasty ones chasing someone, then everyone else pounds on the weaklings." She slammed her fists together and smiled.

"Quite right Miss Xiao Long! And that is what we will be practicing once we find them. That along with our endurance." He paused to take a breath. "The horde was spotted three days away from our landing zone by its speed. We'll test your vehicular skills and lay a basic sensor grid, in case they swoop around behind us, while we move towards their last known location."

He patted the ATV nearest to him. It was a beautiful machine, built with Hunters and their capabilities in mind. A lot of the comforts that went into normal models were missing because their Auras rendered them immune to minor shocks and bumps. The engine was much bigger and the entire body was armored, with extra heavy plating on the front.

"These puppies will go for almost two thousand miles thanks to all of the Dust we're bringing. And don't worry, we're going to use every last ounce of it. I hope you girls got a good night's sleep because it's the last one you'll have until we get back to Beacon. It'll be short watches for all of us if we're going to get everything finished on time."

Yang and Blake both gulped. Ruby had no idea how long they were out last night. But, considering the bags under their eyes, it had to be pretty late. She'd done her best to get a good night's sleep, by comparison.

Though, Ruby had been planning to spend a lot of time staying up while they were out here. She suspected that she could see and hear the stars much more easily this far away from all of the passive energy that surrounded Beacon.

"That being said," Professor Port continued, "We're spending most of the first day getting acquainted with everything these machines can do. Who among you has ridden before?"

Only Ruby and Yang raised their hands. Professor Port smiled slightly before nodding. "Very good. Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long. You'll be out first scouts. Let's go over your route."

* * *

Her seat rumbled underneath her. A whirlwind of red leaves and grass trailed in her wake, blinding her enemy. With her opening made, Ruby took a small sensor orb in hand and lined up her shot. Steering with one arm when she was going this fast was tricky, but she couldn't afford to slow down. Every bump threatened to yank the handlebars from her grip and send her spinning out of control.

She held her breath, took aim, and threw the orb as hard as she could. It flew through the air in a lazy arc. It bounced once, twice, and landed on top of a big rock. The ball swiveled and started flashing. Ruby could just barely make out a 'beep... beep...' coming from it.

"Woo! Score one for Ruby! I'm catching up," Ruby cheered and slowed down enough for Yang to catch up. She held her hand out to the side, getting a high five as Yang passed by. It was a little hard, she actually felt her Aura drop a bit thanks to the hit.

They were the deep scouting team for the entire first day because Weiss and Blake needed more practice before Professor Port would let them out of his sight.

"Why did you announce that over the radio?" Weiss's annoyed voice came out of her headset.

"Miss Schnee," Professor Port called next, "If you have time to talk, you have time to drive. I saw you go around that rock instead of ramping off it."

Weiss groaned before cutting out. Ruby giggled while Yang shook her head.

"Umm, Ruby out!" Ruby switched her mic channel to just Yang's. Her sister had gotten off of her ATV and was making sure the sensor was setup right. They were supposed to be placed down carefully and then they'd stabilize themselves. But, the sensors were designed to attract Grimm with noise and be tough enough to transmit how heavy each hit was. Since they could take a lot of punishment, Ruby and Yang made a game of it.

Once they found a good place for them, whoever could throw a sensor from the ATV and land it first got a point. Yang was winning twenty-two to sixteen, thanks mostly to her Semblance. It was really hard to beat her to a spot because of how much further she could throw. While a few of her sensors wound up embedded in their targets instead of on them, that wasn't a point Ruby was going to argue. Her losing control of her strength like that meant she'd be on a hair trigger and Ruby wanted today to be as fun as it could be.

"Nice one sis. Right on target." Yang gave her a thumbs up and went back to her own ride. Ruby pulled up alongside her as they went further North.

They were building a big net with these things and needed to place a sensor every mile or so. That seemed a little excessive to Ruby, but there had to be a good reason for it. At least, she really hoped there was. Her only other idea for why Professor Port was doing this, was to make them bored and practice pointless things that could only be fun if you really tried.

That option didn't really sit well with her. Professor Port was taking over part of what Professor Goodwitch was going to do. That meant that Weiss and Blake were being investigated during the mission. So, she and Yang were being given something else to do to get them out of the way. But, just being bored out of your mind with simple things didn't seem like something that would make Yang this agitated. It also wasn't something that Ruby couldn't be told about, which Yang and Weiss kept insisting on whenever she asked them about the investigations.

Ruby heard a crash over the radio when they were halfway to their next stop. It was followed by Weiss screaming, "Why did you ram me?!"

"You need to be able to keep hold of your vehicle even if it comes to a crashing halt. While you did prevent injury to yourself, you lept from your seat to do so. You'd be snatched up by Grimm in seconds if you did that. Change your grip so it's more like this and squeeze with your knees." Professor Port continued shouting over the everyone channel, "Excellent! Now, let's try it again. Miss Belladonna, you hit her this time."

Was that a technique to check if people were Anathema? The only way it made any sense was if they were so easily startled that they started glowing as soon as they had any problems. From everything she'd heard about them, that couldn't be the case.

"Why me?" Weiss groaned, over everyone's headset.

Yang laughed over their private channel. "I think Ice Queen needs to take her own advice."

"She probably hit the 'Team' button by accident." Ruby slowly increased her speed.

"Yeah, but still. She doesn't need to try to tell us what to do all the time. 'You should be studying more,' 'Stop staying out so late,' 'Pull up your other sock.' I mean, you're supposed to be the one doing stuff like that, but you don't because you're awesome." Yang continued sniping at Weiss.

"Yang, that's…" Ruby bit her lip and reconsidered what she was about to say. It was really weird for her sister to be passive-aggressive about this. Yang was always aggressive-aggressive about pretty much everything. "I thought you liked Weiss."

"I do," Yang replied quickly. A little too quickly. "It's just… Something about her bugs me and I can't put my finger on what it is... I think Blake said it best. Is anything she does real? Or is it just for show?"

"I think that… I think that some of it has to be real. The things she and Blake argue about, those're real. When we're just talking about stuff though… Yeah, I've wondered the same thing." Ruby didn't want to admit it, but Weiss and Blake were both kinda weird. Those two seemed like they came from a completely different world.

"It's other stuff too. Some of the stuff she's been saying or doing, I can't get those things out of my head either… It's like I'm-" Yang cut herself off and grumbled into her mic. She was clenching her handlebars hard enough for her knuckles to turn white.

"It's like you're?" Ruby squeaked. She hated seeing Yang like this, but her sister always clammed up when she pushed too hard. Instead, she had another target.

She felt the familiar pressure build and shoved it with all of her might. ' _Yang, you can talk to me.'_

It shoved back.

Ruby blinked a couple of times. Ya- The world just shoved her Aura back!

She'd pushed and run into a metaphorical wall before. That happened a lot with some people, but it was never a rejection like that. Yang was having a problem with something, so they should talk about it! But... something didn't want them to.

Ruby went to Yang with all of her problems; well, almost all of them. She'd be a horrible sister if she didn't!

Yang growled over her mic and revved her engine. She dug deep ruts in the ground and shot off in a flurry of grass and dirt. Ruby kicked her speed up in response. _If Yang wanted to race so badly, she should've said something. Ruby was always up for a race too._

Ruby sank low, her head right above her handlebars. The wind howled in her ears as she pushed her machine harder. She kept her wheels on the ground, weaving around obstacles that Yang smashed through. Their armor was thick enough to ram an Ursa to death, so a fallen tree wasn't any danger. Going through them bled a bit of Yang's speed with each crash. It was just enough to let Ruby keep pace.

For several minutes, they weaved through the trees, occasionally running over a Creep or Beowolf that was dumb enough to be nearby. The Creeps were so much funnier to do it to. They'd get up on their tails and try to kick the front of the ATV. Then she'd ram them and send them flying through the air.

Yang kept her lead for most of their ride. She'd been riding her motorcycle a lot and while the ATVs weren't anywhere near as agile, she was still a much better rider than Ruby. The only thing that kept them close was Ruby's slightly lower weight and Yang's tendency to go out of her way to jump off of things.

As they neared the next sensor drop distance, Ruby spied an opportunity. There was a huge tree that fell at a perfect ramp angle. It was also facing at an angle away from what would be a target to drop it on.

"Rotten log at eleven o'clock." Ruby pointed to the target and waited for Yang to give her a thumbs up. Yang pulled a sensor orb out instead of grabbing her handle again. Ruby kept her hands on the handlebars and watched from behind.

They were a long ways away from the target, far enough that Ruby was pretty sure Yang couldn't land her shot. She was still aiming it though.

Yang drifted to the left so she could get lined up correctly, riding over flatter ground. She had her handle bars in an iron grip around the center, for stability, while the orb was held aloft. Ruby waited for the right moment, then accelerated as fast as she could.

She rammed Yang's bumper from the side, then braked hard. Her sister spun to the right and sped towards the fallen tree ramp. Ruby cut tightly to the left, then straightened out. As soon as she was under control, she pulled her own orb out. She briefly spared a glance at Yang, while the blonde veered off course and up the tree.

Yang looked back to her and grinned. She flipped her throwing arm over and looped her wrist underneath her right handlebar. Her left shifted over so it was grabbing the left handle.

Ruby took a deep breath and listened, Yang was up to something. As soon as she finished focusing, Ruby could hear Yang's Aura sing.

Her sister slammed her heel into the tree, spinning back on track. As soon as she was straight, she heaved her body to the side. Her ATV followed, first going up on two wheels and then over the edge. It flipped over once, rotating around Yang.

She landed right next to Ruby, again on two wheels. Yang's ATV finished its rotation and slammed into the side of Ruby's. It forced her up and over while Yang settled into her seat with her shocks groaning.

Ruby tumbled over and over. She pressed herself into her seat as hard as she could, pulling on the handles and squeezing with her knees. Each impact ate into her Aura, but in the end it didn't matter. She had more than enough to weather a couple of light impacts. Once she was righted again, she sighed and slumped into her seat.

"Stupid Semblance, making it easy." She grumbled into her mic while Yang tossed her orb onto their target, not bothering to get any closer. Again, her Aura sang and her aim was true; even though she was further away from it than Ruby was capable of throwing.

Yang laughed and turned towards her. "What was that?"

"Your Semblance. It makes it so much harder for me to score any points." Ruby pouted and jumped off of her ATV. A bunch of her sensors had gone flying when she tumbled, so she needed to pick them all up.

"Uhh, what'd you mean?" Yang quirked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

Ruby blinked a couple of times before turning to her. Did Yang forget about this?

Ruby tapped the side of her head, because her ears were covered by her headset, and mouthed, " _I heard it."_

Yang opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. The color ran out of her face and her pupils shrank until they were barely visible. Yang gulped before mouthing back, " _What?"_

" _I…"_ Ruby started responding, but stopped after the first word. Sure, they hadn't talked about this since she first told Yang weeks ago, but it was really important! She still remembered Yang's advice about not telling anyone else, even if it was really hard to not sometimes. How could Yang just forget like that? She'd always remembered everything else.

Ruby felt a lump form in her throat when she considered how easy it was to forget her without all of the written reminders Blake made. Yang had probably forgotten that entire conversation. Of course she did. She must've, it happened so long ago. Ruby dug her nails into her palm and grit her teeth.

She couldn't just explain everything all over again, not over her mic. But, she also needed to say something to jog Yang's memory.

"Umm, you know… That thing we talked about on our first day. It was right after Professor Ozpin's speech?" Ruby crossed her fingers and held her breath.

Yang slowly nodded, but the fear in her eyes hadn't gone away.

Ruby's hands trembled while she turned away to pick up more of her fallen sensors. "Yang… Are you ok?"

"Yeah…" Her response was forced and had none of her usual energy. "Yeah, I just... Forgot…"

"It's-It's ok, everyone forgets about me at some point. D-Don't worry about it." Ruby tried to sound reassuring while she crouched down and wiped the sides of her eyes. She wasn't crying, but she would be if she left those there.

Almost everyone had forgotten about her at some point, no matter how hard they tried. Now she had to add Yang to the list too. Weiss was the only person who hadn't and here they were, waiting to see what would happen to her.

 _Please be good Weiss. Please._

* * *

They needed to sleep in shifts.

Two would stay up for four hours at a time. They'd keep the camp safe from wandering Grimm and pass it off to someone else later on. Only one person would get a full night's sleep each night.

Ruby and Blake had the first watch. Ruby'd gone camping with Uncle Qrow and Yang, so she knew what to watch for. Blake said that she'd lived outside of the Kingdoms for most of her life, so she was good too. They'd wake Professor Port and Yang up at midnight.

So far, it had been a quiet night. Ruby sat on one side of the camp, pouring over Pyrrha's book. Normally she wouldn't be able to make anything out when it was this dark, but she figured out another trick.

She could make her forehead sign glow in a way that only she could see. Though, the bright red light make it a little tricky to read some of her charts that relied on colors. It also made keeping watch much easier. This would've been perfect for watching, if it wasn't for the cloud of bugs that surrounded their camp. Thankfully, they didn't seem to want to get too close to the Dust fire in the center.

She could hear the stars a little bit better too; thanks all of the interference from Beacon being gone. It still wasn't perfect, but it was easier to make everything out than before. She hoped that this might make predictions work better, which is why she was using the book. After a couple minutes of quick calculations, she came to her answer.

The Corpse was starting its descent towards the moon tonight, but would only partially pass through it. It was moving in an arc that would be tangent to her own signs in a few days and also pointing to the Pillar when it did. Someone close to her, a friend most likely, was going to be painfully, but not seriously, hurt.

That didn't make any sense.

They were just going to be fighting Beowolves, which could hardly be called threats. Also, when fighting a horde of Grimm without backup, the line between fine and dead was a very thin one. Maybe it meant that someone would get into a bad wreck before the fight? That would still take a lot of force though. Ruby was pretty sure that she could take a head-to-head collision at the highest speed the ATVs could go without any problems.

Could it be based on how people without an unlocked Aura would respond? Light fractures would be healed in days by most Hunters, but for the rest of the world they could be crippling. That was better than anything else she could think of so far, even if it did render astrology much less useful.

She groaned and flopped onto her back. Maybe Pyrrha was right and she couldn't see the future this way. That didn't feel right either though. The flow of energy in the stars must mean something important.

"Ruby, are you ok?" Blake whispered over the radio. They'd taken opposite positions around the camp.

"Yeah, just…" Ruby grumbled into the mic. This would be so much easier if she could just ask Blake and Weiss about stuff. She'd heard steady pulses of Aura coming from Blake all through the night, which was a little worrying. Though Yang was doing that too, and she fell asleep as soon as she hit the ground.

Ruby shook her head and finished her sentence. "Just listening."

"To what?" Blake looked up from her little book and turned to Ruby. Ruby wasn't sure how she was reading it in this light, but weirder things had happened.

"Uhh." Ruby bit her lip. "Everything? Umm, the forest. Uhh… Have you been out here before?"

Blake took a long time to say, "Yes."

"Gotcha…" Ruby sighed. That wasn't a very happy tone.

She tapped her heels against the ground while she tried to word out what she wanted to ask. Yang wasn't answering her at all, but Blake had last time, sort of.

Well, being straightforward couldn't hurt her too bad. "Blake. What did you and Yang talk about last night?"

There was another long pause. Blake wasn't looking at her anymore and she was so quiet Ruby had a hard time hearing her. "Nothing important."

"Yang wouldn't be acting so weird if it wasn't important."

Ruby was waiting for the moment when she could shove the world and get an answer, but it never came. Blake just stopped talking.

"Blake?"

She tried calling her a couple more times, without success, before turning to the others.

Professor Port and Weiss were both sleeping soundly. Yang was surprisingly still, considering how violently her Aura was pulsing. Each burst came with a twitch of her fingers, a tensing of her body, or a pained look on her face. The movements were so fast that Ruby would miss them if she blinked.

She balled her fists and squeezed. There was nothing she could do to help.

...

The shift finished in silence.

Yang looked like she'd barely slept; unlike Professor Port, who had far too much energy for a man his age.

Ruby laid down with the pulse of the Lightning Bolt echoing in her mind. For the first time, she could heard the the sign of sudden and reckless violence clearly. It permeated her, begging to be channeled. She grabbed it and held it inside. No matter how much she wanted to just do something, it wouldn't help right now.

She dreamt of a poem that resonated with her soul. When she woke up, she couldn't remember the verses.


	16. Chapter 3-2

Ruby and Yang were on deep scouting duty the next day too, though they didn't get to fool around on the second trip. Professor Port had given them a very long route that was full of difficult terrain; which meant that they needed to split up and be serious about it. The next day, he said that Weiss and Blake knew enough to ride without his supervision, so they started rotating positions.

Today, she and Weiss were surveying the cliff with him. It was a windy strip of rock that lacked any vegetation. Driving along it required no thought and just enough attention to remember that it curved occasionally.

They were going almost three hundred miles west, away from the Beowolf horde. That would put them close to the border towers and within sight of Vale's tallest skyscrapers. At least, they would be in sight if the fog ever let up. Right now, she couldn't see the tops of the trees at the bottom of the cliff, let alone buildings which were miles away.

That also made an already boring ride even worse. The view should've been amazing, an endless sea of bright red trees which was dotted with farms and factories. Instead they had a murky soup.

The most interesting thing that had happened was knocking a Creep as far off of the edge as she could, then listening to its screeches as they faded away. Before and after that, everything was more rocks and slight turns.

There was nothing to do besides go forward. She couldn't listen to music thanks to the headset. Trying to listen to the stars didn't work because of how loud both the sun and her engine were. Maybe Yang was doing better.

Ruby changed her channel and tried to sound happier than she was. "Yang?

"What is it?" Her response was unusually terse.

"Are you and Blake having fun?"

"No."

"You still have too many places to hit?"

"Less than yesterday. But yeah, still too many."

"We've gone almost a hundred miles so far and killed a single Creep so… Yay."

"That sucks," Yang grumbled. "Here's my next spot. Yang out."

Ruby sighed. Maybe there was something to be said for making Anathema so bored that they snapped and revealed themselves after all. If she could control people's minds, then doing so would be really tempting right now. Not to do anything really bad, just… Just make them talk about stuff.

She looked over her shoulder.

Professor Port was a little ways behind her, riding smoothly. He was calm, eyes focused on the road ahead. He eased into each movement, using the smallest amount of energy needed. Occasionally, he would tap some control without looking at it, steering with his legs while his arms were folded on his lap. He must've ridden like this hundreds of times.

Weiss was further back and very haggard. She had another bout of crash training yesterday, along with not a lot of sleep. Each of her movements started slowly, then jumped, showing just how tired she was. It made her look around too much and over-correct when she needed to change course. Every half hour or so, she'd mess with her controls to try the legs-only steering option, but inevitably changed it back when she lost her balance.

They'd all practice that tomorrow. It was an important skill for riding combat; even if Weiss, Blake, and Yang wouldn't need it as much because their weapons only needed one hand to use. It also made long trips much easier, which explained why Professor Port was saving it for after they finished the surveying. They wouldn't appreciate the benefit until they had to do it the hard way. Also, the hard way made it worse on Blake and Weiss.

Speaking of that, Ruby changed to Weiss's channel. "Hey, Weiss."

"Yes?" She sounded less exhausted than she looked.

"Uhh, I was just wondering how you were doing."

"As well as can be expected."

"Ahh… Umm..." Ruby tried to think of something nice to say that didn't sound hokey. "You're doing a lot better with your riding!"

"Thank you." She seemed sincere. "Was there anything else?"

"Not really." After a moment Ruby sighed, "Ruby out."

She looked down to her scroll, which was held in a protected display. They were still so far away from the end. Once they got there, they had to ride all of the way back too. Which would take just as long as it did to get out there in the first place. She idly tapped her finger on her scroll for a couple of moments before clicking on 'Hands free mode.' The engine roared as panels deployed.

They lightly pressed into her thighs, shins, and calves. She could feel her footrests and seat shift too, now they rotated. The seat felt a little weird since each half could rotate on its own. She didn't have too much to worry about besides a little discomfort though. Her Aura would keep her tights in one piece if they got pinched by it.

Controlling it was another story. As soon as the panels finished deploying, Ruby turned sharply towards the cliff. She shifted all the way over to the other side and spun around. Her tires squealed on the stone, one slipping and causing her to stutter forward. The force of her turn threatened to rip her from her seat, but the leg panels held her firmly in place. Her second circle was larger, bringing her perilously close to the edge. She straightened out after it, slowly regaining her balance.

Left, right, left, right: she alternated which side her weight was on. Ruby snaked forward, her ATV suddenly accelerating or braking whenever she moved her weight forward or back. She had to hold her arms out to the sides to stop the swaying, but soon enough she was able to go at a semi-steady pace. It was kind of like riding a bike without hands, a really heavy bike.

Even if it was tricky, it was more interesting that just riding normally.

"Hoho, good show, Miss Rose!" Professor Port shouted from right behind her. "Harder than it looks, isn't it?"

"Yeah, eep!" She squeaked as she braked and then shot forward again to avoid getting hit. "I didn't expect him to be so sensitive."

"Hmmm?" He pulled up next to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, my ATV. He just feels like a he, you know?"

"I do indeed." He nodded and pulled his blunderbuss-axe free. "To call my sweet Yasha anything else would be a travesty."

"Yea!" Ruby patted Crescent Rose. The movement made her press down with one leg. She swerved towards the cliff, again. "Ahh!"

After another sequence of rapid turning, she evened out. "Whew, ok. I'm all right."

"You'll need some more practice before you can fight like that, but it's a good first attempt."

"Thanks." She grinned and focused on smoothing out her motions for the next few miles. Professor Port continued to ride next to her and keep track of her progress. It was still really jerky, but not as bad as she'd been expecting.

It also gave her enough time to figure out what to do. There was only one option left for her if she wanted to figure anything out.

"Professor Port, can I ask you a question?" Ruby flipped her headset to his channel and whispered into it.

"You already have." He laughed deeply before shaking his head. "Yes you can, Miss Rose."

"Is everything going to be ok?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know… With Weiss and Blake being investigated."

He sighed. "Miss Rose, there are questions that you shouldn't ask."

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"We say it for a reason. The more you know, the harder we'll have to be on you."

He looked off into the distance and stroked his mustache. "Many would describe it as the worst day of their lives. Of course, when they're tested, they're normally so young that their first bad relationship will eclipse any unpleasant experience that might happen."

"However, there is no reason to make the investigation more painful than it needs to be. And every scrap of knowledge that you acquire will heighten it."

"Could you at least tell me what's going to happen to Weiss?" Ruby pouted at him. Once more, she couldn't feel an opportunity to push the world into the shape she wanted it.

"No. No, I will not." He looked back at Weiss. "Miss Schnee knows a great deal and you are a very kind person."

"What?"

"Miss Rose." Professor Port locked eyes with her. "What was the first thing you thought about after you figured out how to ride like that?"

"Uhh… That it would make it really easy to use Crescent Rose like this?" Ruby smiled and laughed nervously. He gave her a withering look. She continued holding the smile for a moment before groaning. "That I could let Weiss know and make it a little easier on her."

"Exactly. Your kindness and connection to her mean that you would be one of the least qualified people to oversee an investigation, even if you had learned how to perform them."

Ruby frowned and grumbled under her breath. She could handle doing everything they'd done so far just fine.

"But, that same kindness is why you're a good team leader and will be a wonderful Huntress someday."

She rubbed the side of her neck and turned away, looking out to the mist again.

"If you still want to tell her, I won't interfere." Professor Port pulled ahead of her and smiled.

Ruby leaned back, slowing down until she was next to Weiss.

"Yes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Weiss, have you ever ridden a bike?"

"No."

Ruby tightened her lips. Maybe this would be harder than she thought.

"A skateboard?"

"No."

"Roller blades?"

"No."

"Uhh… Ice skates?"

"Yes."

Ruby exhaled suddenly. "Whew, ok. So the legs mode is kind of like skating."

"No it isn't. If it were like skating I wouldn't have so many problems with it. It over reacts to every movement, no matter how natural they feel."

"It's not just that. You also need to move your hips, shoulders, and legs either separately-" Ruby shifted her upper body to one side and her lower body to the other, while slightly twisting her hips. She slowly drifted towards Weiss without losing her balance.

"Or all together-" She moved back and forth all at once, snaking her path again. "Depending on what you want to do."

"Do that again." Weiss pursed her lips while watching Ruby's torso very carefully.

"Also, your lady stilts probably aren't helping."

"My what?" Weiss looked at her puzzled.

"Uhh, you heels. Because of the angle they put your foot at, it's much easier for your to rotate your foot pedals back and harder to go further forward so you're losing out on a lot of the range of motion and the rest of your leg is probably moving differently than its expecting."

Ruby poked the menu on her scroll a couple of times. "Come to think of it, there's probably some setting which would compensate for that."

Weiss sighed and nodded. "Very well. In order to control it, I need to sway correctly and use contra body motion when appropriate."

"What?"

"It's a dancing term."

Weiss raised both of her arms and sat up with her posture straight. She lowered her right hand to her scroll and shifted her ATV to leg mode. She steadied into the transition without wildly swinging or breaking.

When she tried to turn, she was shifting and twisting correctly now. Ruby gave her two thumbs up and smiled.

Weiss softly smiled back, her eyes brightening. "Thank you, Ruby."

* * *

Yang slowed her ATV down and leaned to the side. She'd been following this stream for a long time and finally found what she'd been looking for.

There were supposed to be a lot of caves under the Forever Fall, but they hadn't found any entrances so far. She'd been hoping that one of the streams that randomly ended would lead to a cave. The first few she checked didn't work out. One dried up, another turning into a pool of smelly water. This one had its own pit and turned into a tiny waterfall.

Yang walked over to the edge and looked down. She couldn't even make out the bottom thanks to the darkness and the mist. It billowed up and sprayed her face with a refreshing coolness that made her sigh. This was exactly what she needed. Something new and nice. Something to distract her from the endless red plants that looked a little too much like blood if you saw them in the right light.

 _A memory that she'd pushed away came unbidden to the front of her mind. The grass bled into the water and shifted it to a deep crimson._

 _It flowed from the fallen gladiator's throat to an Orichalcum edged pit in the center of the arena. The man's life slowly swirled into the depths of her Shining Colosseum of the Dawn's Light. As it fell upon the central altar, the stone around her neck pulsed with power in time with the beating of his heart._

 _Her glorious champion saluted his Empress. Droplets of blood from his sword splashed onto her, marring the pure white silks she wore. She could have deflected them with ease, but he should never have caused such a situation in the first place._

 _As punishment for such an insult, his final fight would not be a painless one._

 _She shrugged the shoulder of her gown off and snapped her fingers. Her favorite concubine and concubinus approached with her sword and shield._

Yang slapped her cheeks and pushed the memory back down. Her eyes burned; she rubbed them as hard as she could. Her mouth tasted of bile; she gasped for air, choking out words between breaths. "No. no, no, no, no, no..." She repeated it again and again, growling more than speaking.

The vision slowly disappeared. The water was just water and the pit just a pit. There was no colosseum, no manse, no slave, no anything! Only the nature surrounding her and the fuzzy white noise in the back of her head. The noise tried to make itself louder again, she slammed it back down.

Yang panted and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She couldn't keep doing that. _She needed someone_ \- NO! - something else, a way to make all of it just go away. Her options were so limited, it wasn't even worth listing them.

She flipped her headset back on and turned to Blake's channel. "Hey. I found something you should see."

"You're twenty miles away."

"I can wait." She was in no condition to drive right now.

"Don't you have more sensors to place?"

"Eh, I'm good." She lied.

"Yang." Blake had a very accusatory tone.

"I'll drive around while you're on your way."

"Yang." This time it had more of an edge. How was she able to tell that Yang was still- Oh right, that thing she said she could do... That was actually kind of annoying.

"I can make up for it later."

Blake sighed and gave up on fighting her. "I'll be there soon. Blake out."

Yang sat down, her back to the pit, and closed her eyes. She could feel those thoughts threatening to break through again. Getting rid of them was impossible, so was staying calm. What she needed was a wall. A mental fortress that would hold everything back.

If only she knew how to build something like that.

Instead she focused on keeping everything even. The trees and grass were red. There were no enemies nearby, no distractions. It went against everything she wanted to do, but right now she couldn't trust her own instincts because she couldn't tell whose instincts they were.

She used all of her focus to keep them down until Blake arrived.

Her partner pulled up next to her and stopped to look down the pit.

"A waterfall," She said deadpan.

"A waterfall!" Yang smiled and stood up. "I'm going in. You want to join me?"

She backed up until she was on the edge of the pit and held out a hand. _Yang focused on the feelings of cool water seeping through her hair and falling on her skin. On the way that the streams fell on her muscles, massaging the knots away. On how they could be hidden by a wall of water and a cloud of steam, left to do whatever they wanted to._

Blake looked at her like she just suggested they eat dung beetles.

Yang frowned. "What are you, afraid of getting wet?"

Blake blinked at her a couple of times before the joke set in. She pinched the bridge of her nose and her bow moved so it was forward and out. After a long sigh, she shook her head and smiled slightly.

Yang was halfway through pulling off her jacket by the time Blake responded. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Hmm, nope." She lied again and waited a moment. Going into the hole was an excellent idea, she just couldn't say why until they were in it.

Blake crossed her arms and gave Yang a look. Maybe she could have fun with this after all.

She tossed her jacket and skirt onto her ATV, then changed her channel to 'Team.'

"Yang here," She announced, getting a wide eyed response from Blake. "I'm going off comms for like five minutes."

"Wait what?" Weiss said.

"Yang, why?" Ruby said at the same time.

"Found a waterfall. I'm jumping into it." Yang pulled her first boot off.

"Miss Xiao Long, you have to place more sensors." Professor Port harrumphed loudly, "You can have fun later."

"Yea, yea, yea, no." She waved a hand back and forth, even though only Blake could see it. "You're hundreds of miles away and I'm going in this hole. Deal. Yang out."

She pulled her headset off and tossed it to the ground before anyone could respond. Yang rolled her neck and sighed, that felt nice.

Blake was frozen in disbelief, mouth hanging slightly open. She opened it some more, exhaled, and shook her head. She didn't say anything.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that," Yang whispered. She was just loud enough for Blake's hidden cat ears to hear her, but the mics couldn't. Blake continued shaking her head.

Yang gave Blake an exhausted smile and waved her over again. She wanted to do a bright and happy one, but that wasn't happening. Not until they were home at least.

Blake walked up to her, stopping just a few feet away. She met Yang's eyes with a smile and a sigh. Blake looked much less tired than she was, but the worry was still there.

She raised an arm, raised a finger to the sky, and shoved Yang back. She windmilled her arms to try and catch her balance. "Ahh."

It was no good, she was going over. On her last rotation Yang grabbed ahold of Blake's wrist and jumped off the edge. Blake tried to resist, but she was no match for Yang's strength.

She pulled Blake into a tight hug, even though her partner tried to squirm out of it. She and Ruby had made a point of trying to get Blake and Weiss used to more physical contact, but it was going very slowly.

Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's back and spun in the air, cheering as they fell. Water splashed over them. It soaked her clothes, and remaining boot, through.

She hit the ground on her back with a huff. Blake bounced off of her chest and landed on top of her. Blake's headset was missing. She must've thrown it off as they fell.

"Heh," Yang laughed. "If you wanted to be on top so badly, you could've just aske-"

Yang cut herself off as soon as she realized what was coming out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! That wasn't-" She stammered until Blake cut her off with a glare.

"Yang. What is this about?"

Yang sighed and pushed herself up. She lowered her head and let the water pound her neck. "I don't know how much more I can take. I'm…"

She raised her head just enough to meet Blake's eyes. "I'm dreaming again. And… It's not just at night anymore."

Blake winced and looked away. "I'm sorry."

"I've needed to use them too." Yang shivered at the memory of that other person's thoughts leeching their way into her mind. "If I hadn't, I would've said some really stupid things."

Blake lowered her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Ok fine, stupider things." Yang raised her arms and shook her head. She let them fall a moment later.

Blake hesitated for a moment, then laid a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

A part of Yang wanted to scream yes, tackle Blake, and deploy Ember Celica. A slightly more sensible part said to just tackle her. She ignored both of them. "Nothing that I'd ask you to do."

"I…" Blake started to speak, then stopped and looked at her own lap.

"Blake… You're the one being investigated right now. I-" Yang grit her teeth and forced another memory back down. "I just need to tough it out."

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, breath growing hotter each time. When it was almost too much, she held a very deep one for ten seconds, then let it out slowly.

Fear was plastered on Blake's face. It wasn't really justified since she would still win.

 _She should fear you._

Yang shook her head again. "That isn't all I wanted to talk about though."

"You need to be careful around Ruby. She was able to tell when I used my Aura. She thought it was my Semblance… It wasn't."

Blake grimaced. "Yang… That's not something someone should be able to do."

"I know." She spoke through her teeth.

"Ruby… Nothing about what she can do adds up. She has to be-"

"SHE ISN'T ANATHEMA!" Yang shouted and unleashed her Aura. Flames licked her arms, boiling the water as it fell on her. Her hair ignited with power, glowing so brightly that Blake had to squint.

"Ruby isn't like us. She's good." Yang tried to cap her seething anger, but just reduced it to a boil. They'd went over this before they left. Ruby couldn't be Anathema, she just couldn't.

The light died down and her fire retreated, but Yang could still feel it smoldering within her soul. Blake looked at her again, her fear dissipating.

Letting go like this, it felt right. Yang could be honest with Blake in a way she couldn't with anyone else. She could show her the feelings and thoughts she had to hide from everyone else. Most of them anyway, others were best locked away until she could sort her head out. It wasn't completely fair, but they were both damned and Blake had her own problems which Yang was prepared to help her with when they came up.

"There is one way I could help you…" Blake said softly.

"What're you thinking?"

"I could write something for you, something that would argue for calmness and control. Or maybe for channeling your anger to the thoughts themselves." She couldn't meet Yang's eyes. "I'd pour everything I could into it."

 _Such impudence!_

The water hissed as it boiled again. Yang closed her eyes and tried to force it back down. Her fire continued to bubble through.

She opened her eyes again. _She was lounging in her throne room while discussing a new trade agreement. Negotiations were not going well. The young Solar in front of her laced each statement she made with barely concealed derision, implying that she would let her baser instincts control her every action._

 _The girl wasn't even a tenth of her age. Her 'kingdom' was barely visible on a map of Creation._

Yang dug her nails into her thigh and blinked the vision away.

"Blake, you're asking me to let you mess with my head when it's already this messed up."

"Can you think of anything else that might help?"

 _Take retribution._

Yang growled. "How can I be sure you won't make it worse?"

"You need to trust me."

 _Subdue her._

"No."

Blake laid a hand on hers. "You need to trust someone."

 _Break her spirit._

"No!" Yang didn't know who she was shouting at.

Blake grabbed her hand when she tried to pull away and squeezed. "Then what am I supposed to do? You're going to lose-"

 _Make her yours._

"Shut up, shut up, shut-" Yang grabbed the fire burning inside of her and let it blaze forth in one mighty shout. "UP!"

She fired a blast of searing flames to the heavens. The explosion of steam forced the falling water away, vaporizing it as heat pushed through faster than it could boil away. Blake let go of her and flickered.

Yang panted as new water fell onto her. The cold seeped into her, quenching her rage. She looked at the shadow in the mist. Blake's eyes were the only color she could see, yellow orbs piercing through the mist and darkness.

"Blake... Do it now. Before I change my mind."

* * *

A/N: There are some deeper crossover things in this chapter. If anyone has questions, I will directly answer some.


	17. Chapter 3-3

Ruby and Weiss were waiting for them at camp, along with Professor Port. He was leaning on the side of his ATV, weapon in hand. As they approached, his grip tightened. He waited for them to come to a complete stop before speaking. "Miss Xiao Long."

"Professor Port." Yang locked eyes with him and held her hands open.

"What exactly were you thinking?"

"That driving around like that was so boring I might pass out behind the wheel." She tensed her fingers, curling them slightly and then opening them again. She hadn't deployed her gauntlets, yet.

"I would think that someone your age would be able to handle a little tedium." He scoffed and stood up.

"Yeah well…" Yang tensed her arms, then suddenly relaxed. Blake let out the breath she was holding, her commands worked. Watching it made her heart almost skip a beat with excitement, then the reality of what she did came back and she no longer felt any amount of pride. They shouldn't have to resort to that.

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

"You disobeyed orders for nothing? If this were a real breach, those sensors could save hundreds of lives. Placing them as quickly as possible would be of utmost importance."

"If this was a real breach I'd be on the front lines, not playing delivery girl!"

"A true Huntress needs to be prepared to take on any task, no matter how boring."

Yang growled under her breath. "Bite me."

Ruby suddenly sat straight up and looked at Yang with wide eyes. Blake squinted at her. She would have be hard pressed to hear Yang from that distance and she was a Faunus with exceptional hearing. Just how good was Ruby's?

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You've been saying a whole lot of nothing, Miss Xiao Long." Professor Port paced in front of them. "Is that all you have to say after you dragged both yourself and Miss Belladonna away from your assigned tasks?"

"Who said Blake joined me?"

"You both stopped responding at the same time. Do you have a better explanation for that?"

"I-" Yang started stepping forward, but Blake grabbed her shoulder and held her back.

"Professor Port." Blake met his eyes and let some of her fatigue through. "Can I talk to you... alone?"

Silence fell over the camp while they each looked at each other. Yang alternated between Blake and Professor Port. Weiss watched all three. Professor Port eyed everyone except for Ruby. And Ruby split her focus between each of them equally.

Eventually he nodded and jumped onto his ATV. "Very well. Follow me."

Blake let go of Yang and jumped back on her own. She caught Yang's gaze before leaving and slightly smiled at her. This would be a hard conversation that had their futures on the line.

As she got seated, she tried to remember everything she could about Professor Port. What he said in class, who he looked at, and how he responded to any challenge from a student.

She needed to find an excuse that he would believe. Something that wouldn't result in Yang getting caught now. They could worry about what to do later, after they survived the next few days.

They drove several miles away from the camp. Professor Port checked his scroll as he pulled to a stop. Only when something was confirmed, did he got off. He rolled his shoulders as he stood, axe still in hand.

"Miss Belladonna." He started before she'd gotten ready. "What were you and Miss Xiao Long doing in that cave?"

Blake took a deep breath. There were not many things she could say which would be acceptable.

"I didn't want to go in initially, but Yang insisted. She thought it would be fun for both of us." True enough, for now. She'd gotten vibes that Yang thought it would be great, even though it was guaranteed to leave Blake soggy and miserable.

Professor Port nodded and waited for her to continue.

"She wanted to talk about… private things."

He sighed. "Miss Belladonna. Why are we here?"

Blake waited a moment, suddenly very aware of the weight of her weapon on her back. She licked her lips before responding. "To investigate both Weiss and myself for potentially being Anathema."

She didn't understand why Professor Port was so worried about Weiss. When Blake compared the things that Yang and Ruby could do against Weiss' feats, it didn't look like she could be a threat. Weiss was a smart and very persuasive girl, not someone who felt completely out of place. Even her best didn't inspire Blake to action like some other people had.

Even so, Professor Port tensed slightly more at the mention of Weiss's name."Then, I hope you understand the gravity of the situation. Miss Xiao Long wasn't the only one who ignored orders by doing that."

"I know." She nodded slightly and met his gaze.

Blake took a deep breath and relaxed her eyes enough that she didn't feel the need to blink. Professor Port was one of the oldest professors at Beacon and old Huntsmen were old for a reason. If even half of his stories were true, then he might be the most dangerous member of the teaching staff in single combat.

Yang considered him a member of the very short list of people that she couldn't beat. While Blake was also on that list, she didn't know how they compared and had no intention of finding out. While there were some things she could do to even the odds, she was supposed to have left hurting people in that manner behind her.

After a long moment, he sighed and relaxed slightly. He spoke with a resignation and sorrow she had never heard from him before. "Miss Belladonna. If you found out that one of your teammates was Anathema, what would you do?"

 _You mean another one?_ Blake asked herself, while pushing any bad reactions down. She needed her mind to be clear and her soul frozen. She needed to wear a mask of ignorance and find his weaknesses. She needed to be like Weiss and use whatever words would be the most convincing.

"I don't know." Blake lowered her eyes and whispered. She could see more of someone through their eyes and face than anything else. "I… I would tell you or one of the other professors, but…"

"Would you fight against them to vanquish the demon wearing your friend's skin?" He voice echoed in the darkness.

"If it came down to that … I'd try." She barely resisted shuddering. He couldn't know how right he might be.

"Would you resist its honeyed words, even if your other friends were seduced by its power?" He was closer now.

"I would try." She'd resisted Yang before, probably Ruby as well.

"She would offer you power, influence, whatever you desire. Would you deny her?"

"I-I would try." Blake couldn't keep from trembling. She focused on the emptiness.

"She loves you. You would do anything for her. But she is evil. Could you betray her?"

"I-" Blake stuttered, her mouth dry. "I think so." What was one more betrayal?

For a long moment she stood in silence, her eyes closed. She was barely breathing.

"Could you kill her?"

She knew what she needed to say, but coldness wasn't the right feeling for it. She thought back to the moment when she realized she needed to leave her old life behind.

Blake envisioned Ruby and Yang. They were dressed in black with Adam's insignia on their shoulder, a red rose overlayed on a white tulip. Their weapons were dyed red with blood, as were their Grimm masks. They held a human in place for her, offering her the final kill.

"Yes." She hissed, her breath turning to mist. Their headlights flickered.

Blake looked at him. His head was down and stance unbalanced. If she drew right now she could win. A swift blow to the side of the head to disorient him, followed by a cut to the elbow or knee. It would be almost easy.

She grimaced. How could she even be considering that? She came to Beacon to get away from people who casually crippled their enemies. Besides, there was a better path to take. Professor Port had given himself away with the amount of feeling in his words.

"Who was it?" She asked softly.

"My oldest grandson. He was in his final year at the Atlesian College of Advanced Robotics and fell in with one of them. I'd been so happy that Rackley found a good friend, that I missed something that should have been obvious. He practically had stars in his eyes when he described their project. Years of progress in only a month." He sighed. "Rackley fought to the death to protect his new Master. If his Aura had been unlocked, he might have survived."

Blake nodded, though she didn't understand part of it. Every real member of the White Fang, that she knew of, had their Aura unlocked. The ceremony was the final part of the proving for new recruits. Even those with pathetically weak Auras went through it.

In the kingdoms, barely anyone had one.

"It's as much my own fault as it was that monster's. If I'd seen the signs earlier, he might still be alive." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "The job of a Hunter is to protect the innocent and the vulnerable. The Anathema can be anyone, strike anywhere. We must be vigilant against their threat."

Professor Port looked up and walked back to the ATVs. He patted the front of his. "My own blindness almost tore my family apart." He squeezed his eyes closed, but Blake could make out the water in them when he looked back to her.

"Always remember what we spoke about tonight. So that it may never happen to those you love."

He waited for her to get back on before moving. Blake couldn't help wondering if she had anyone to love anymore.

…

They'd planned to go over advanced riding techniques the next day, but the Beowolves found them first. As the first light of dawn struck the forest, the sensors began going off one by one. Their scrolls chirped again and again as another orb was disturbed, tracking the progress of the horde.

* * *

Ruby heard the pounding of the Alpha's paws behind her. She leaned back, Crescent Rose, in rifle mode, in hand. As soon as it jumped, she slammed on the breaks. The gigantic Beowolf passed over her, swiping wildly.

Its claws bit into the side armor of her ATV and tried to punch through her thigh, but her Aura protected her. Ruby fired a round into the beast's shoulder and sent it spinning off to the side. She shifted her entire body and turned away from the tumbling Grimm, just before the others could catch up.

This was her third rotation as lure. They had most of the alphas separated from the pack and she wasn't supposed to kill any of them. She needed to keep them close enough that they'd keep following, but far enough away that they couldn't catch her. Alphas were also much smarter than regular beowolves. If they saw her coming up on a turn, they'd cut the corner and try to catch her off guard.

It was all much more exciting the first time; just like everything else she'd done on this mission.

Ruby glanced at the pack following her, six alphas and twenty regulars. They were right on her tail, seconds away from reaching her. Ruby was sure could take all of them without any problem. She'd be tired, and definitely glowing, but they would be dead.

Even if it would be easy, she just kept driving. Every so often one got close enough that she needed to blast it away, but there was no real danger.

"Ruby coming back in. ETA five minutes." She announced to everyone else as she drove up a steep hill. The Grimm lept after her, only to end with their faces in the dirt.

"Good pace, Miss Rose. Miss Schnee, you're up next." Professor Port shouted over the roar of a Beowolf.

Ruby sighed. He'd been changing what the lure order was each time they rotated around and she just wanted to get this over with. They'd been at it for over an hour because getting all of the alphas to break away was really hard.

"Sounds good. Ruby out." She said brightly and changed her channel again.

"Hey, Yang." Her sister had been doing much better now that they had something else to do, but Ruby wanted to check in, just in case.

"What's up?" Yang had numerous Grimm-on-steel impacts in the background.

"I was just wondering how it was going?"

"We're still not allowed to kill any of them."

"Yeah…" Ruby glanced back to make sure she had a good lead again. "So, when we get back, do you want to go out and do something?"

"Just us or the whole-" Yang cut herself off with a shout. Ruby could make out three of her explosive rounds being fired before she continued, "Sorry, the Beowolves tried climbing to get away. That'll teach them. Anyway, just the two of us or the whole team?"

"All of us. I was thinking maybe something like going into the city for a day."

"That'd be nice. I could get all of us into one of the better clubs, even if you're still underage. We just need the right clothes."

"No, not that." She'd seen what Yang went out in for those nights.

"Come on. It'll be fun."

"Ut uh." Ruby whimpered. While she'd never been to a club with Yang before, she did know how people danced there thanks to TV and movies. All of that was in the long list of things she never wanted to watch her sister do.

"But we could get such an adorable outfit for you. Hmm, something dark with a mesh top."

That didn't sound too bad actually; provided she had veto power over all parts of it. But, Ruby had a feeling she wouldn't like how many times they'd need to try thing on before finding something. She let the silence be her answer.

"Come on sis. We'd look great! A cute outfit leads to cute boys, or girls. Or, maybe even some nice, curvy weapons."

Ruby groaned, she could practically hear the wink. Yang was never going to let her live that down.

"Which leads to-" Yang suddenly cut herself off. She'd been doing that more often, ever since she and Blake went into that hole. It was really weird, but right now Ruby didn't care.

"Nooooooooo..." Ruby shouted, even though Yang had stopped, and dragged the word out, increasing her pitch slowly. She expected a laugh from Yang. The laugh never came.

She ended when the long note forced her to cough, there was still no laugh. Ruby grit her teeth. Something was going on here and Yang still wasn't talking about it!

Ruby trapped mute, glanced back, and shot the Beowolves a couple of times to make them back off. Even a gun as powerful as Crescent Rose needed to hit a vulnerable spot to take out an alpha, so she didn't need to worry about accidentally killing them. It also felt really nice and she needed that right now.

She took a deep breath and grumbled. Her entire team was keeping things from her, things that she was pretty sure were really important.

"Yang?" Ruby said, now that she could keep the frustration from coming through.

"Would it really be that bad?" Yang didn't sound like Yang. She was like a combination of the worried-Yang from a year ago, right after she was investigated, and the weird-Yang from a few months ago, when she vanished for a week without letting anyone know where she was going.

"No, it's just… Are you-" Ruby paused. Despite how she'd sounded a minute, her sister was still really stressed out and going back into a funk. Ruby couldn't press Yang, no matter how much she wanted to.

She put the thought of pushing through aside and focused on the now. The entire idea of going out and getting in the middle of a crowd felt so weird to her. Especially since she wouldn't be able to bring Crescent Rose along. Yang loved being the center of attention, but Ruby couldn't see the appeal. "Going out like that. It's your thing, not mine."

"Yeah. I get it…" Yang went quiet. Ruby didn't know what to say, so she did too.

She thought about Yang's idea for almost a minute. Would it really be that bad? Yang could go into the dance floor. Meanwhile, she could… hide in the bathroom and play on her scroll. That wouldn't be so bad.

"Umm, Yang. If you really want to… I guess I could try going out line that. It could be fun." Ruby paused and considered what else to say. "I… It's like I barely see you outside of class anymore and even if it's embarrassing or uncomfortable for me, I still want you to be around."

Yang took a long time to respond, "We could find a quieter place with more… subdued dancing. Maybe a gaming store or arcade afterwards?"

"That'd be goo- Oh!" Ruby gasped and swerved to the side to avoid another Alpha's charge. Its claws scraped along her rear wheel guard, but didn't penetrate. She blasted it in the chest to force it away.

"Sorry, Beowolf almost grabbed me and I'm coming in soon . Games are good! Talk later. Ruby out." Ruby switched her channel back to 'Team.'

"You ready, Weiss?" She lined up with the side of their Grimm corral, in line with the direction Weiss was going.

"Coming around now." Weiss pulled free from the circle. She fired several blasts of wind to knock the Beowolves to the ground. Most of them started chasing her as soon as they got back up. Two more, that had been on her already, joined from the horde. Unfortunately, the one that Ruby shot the most ignored Weiss.

That was their biggest problem. Professor Port wanted all eight of the alphas chasing after the lure before they could take out the regulars ones. But, they wanted to keep chasing the previous lure instead of switching to the new one.

One of Yang's missiles smacked the side of its neck and it turned away. Ruby swung Crescent Rose, in rifle mode, at one of the little ones trying to escape and knocked it back into the group.

The Alpha lept at Yang, she met its paw with her fist. As they connected, she fired another round from Ember Cecilia and blasted it in front of Weiss, who promptly ran it over.

With a new, and closer, target in sight, it gave chase.

"Good shot, Miss Xiao Long!" Professor Port raised his axe high in the air and swung at one of the regular Beowolves, cleaving it in two. "Now we mop up the rest."

Ruby flipped a switch on Crescent Rose and shifted her to polearm mode. The scythe blade deployed upwards and aligned with the shaft, giving her even more reach than normal.

"Remember what we practiced and sweep through the center with your partner." He continued and nodded to Yang. They were on opposite sides of the circle, so they were partners for this exercise.

Ruby grinned at Blake and cut sharply inward. She swung her scythe in a figure eight, alternating which side she swept. Every so often their claws connected, but it barely bothered her. Blake had some more problems. She still needed a hand to steer with and her weapon was so short that she couldn't cleave through more than one in a single swing.

Professor Port and Yang had close to the same results. Larger weapons were just better when you needed to mow through lots of Grimm at once. Yang's best option was her explosive rounds. They were awesome! But she couldn't keep firing continuously.

Ruby got herself ready for another sweep when she noticed something weird. Professor Port was tapping on his scroll as she fought. He only did it for a couple of seconds; all while spinning his axe through the Grimm like a one-man blender.

After two more passes for each pair, the Beowolves were nearly done. A group of only thirty still held out. They kept jumping out of the way of attacks, losing limbs instead of being killed.

Ruby turned towards the Beowolves and held Crescent Rose ready. She had the most reach, so she should get at least two.

"MY ENGINE JUST EXPLODED!" Weiss's shout made her slam on the breaks.

"What?!" Ruby gasped too quietly for her mic to pick up.

"Or maybe it didn't, but there's fire everywhere and it's not moving and-" Weiss was cut off by the sound of tearing metal and growling Grimm.

Ruby looked at her own ATV briefly. How could that happen? These were supposed to be good for a long time, a whole other day at least! Weiss wouldn't just turn it off or break it. She would've called in other problems. Unless-

"Everyone, we have an emergency! The previous mission is now void. We must rendezvous with and extract Miss Schnee immediately." Professor Port shouted and pulled away from their circle.

"Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long, you're in front with me. Miss Belladonna, cover our backs."

Ruby cut her turn so tight she went up on two wheels. As soon as all of them were on the ground again, she leaned as far forward as she could. Her engine roared to life. Side panels opened up to eject flames as she poured on much speed as she could. The fire licked her legs, but her Aura protected her.

She needed to get to Weiss as soon as possible. Ruby would be hard pressed to take out that entire group on foot and Weiss wasn't as good of a fighter as she was.

Ruby pulled ahead of the others and switched Crescent Rose to rifle mode. As she rode, her mind raced.

Could he really have done it? Was that what the investigation meant, being left alone with the Grimm? Doctor Oobleck had said that they would do something like that in the past as part of training, but the past was terrible.

Ruby looked to Professor Port and tried to push her ATV to go faster. If she could've picked it up with her Semblance, and would've.

"Weiss, are you OK?" Ruby cried over their private channel.

After several seconds without a response, she shouted again. "Weiss, answer me!"

"I'm trying to concentrate." Weiss yelled back.

Ruby let out a breath and checked her scroll. She'd be there soon.

* * *

"Weiss! Where are you?"

Ruby crested the steep hill she'd climbed not even fifteen minutes ago, flying through the air while she scanned the field for Weiss. The quickly decaying corpses of Beowolves dotted the ground. Thick walls of spiky ice turned the forest into a maze. The howls of the alphas echoed off of them. But her partner was nowhere to be found.

She threw her ATV forward as fast as it could go, Professor Port and Yang right on her tail.

Weiss's last update wasn't a good one. Her Dust was nearly tapped out, but she was still fighting. She was still fine. If they could just find her they could-

A pillar of ice exploded. Weiss flew from the shards and hit the ground hard, tumbling over and over.

Weiss staggered to her feet. Her hair was loose, her skirt was reduced to something Yang would wear, and blood was running down the side of her face. Her Aura was broken.

She looked at Ruby. Piercing blue eyes met her as Weiss's expression relaxed. She closed her eyes, despite the danger surrounding her, and muttered something to herself. Ruby couldn't hear it, but the words were easy to read from her lips. " _They're here. You'll be fine. It'll be over soon."_

"What?" Ruby said softly. Why would Weiss say that?

Weiss opened her eyes again. They were colder than they'd ever been before.

She turned to the broken wall and raised Myrtenaster. An alpha lept through the hole. Ruby swung Crescent Rose to her shoulder.

"No…"

Weiss barely blocked its claws.

Ruby fired. Her round bounced off of its skull, inches from its eye.

Weiss's arm was thrown to the side, a long gash appearing down it.

"No."

Professor Port swung his axe and shot a wave of energy at them. His attack move slowly, too slowly.

It was still advancing, still swinging. Why didn't he fire the gun instead?

"No."

Ruby watched the Alpha move, searching for what she needed to hit. The options presented themselves to her. She couldn't risk guessing wrong.

 _She split herself in four and took four, slightly different, shots._

Head, elbow, knee, knee: she connected with everything except the elbow shot. The Alpha fell forward, mid swipe, it's legs twisted from the impact.

It pushed off of the ground with one of its arms. Its claws slipped past Weiss's blade and slammed into her gut.

Ruby's breath caught in her throat. The Alpha lifted Weiss into the air, one bloody claw piercing through her. Myrtenaster fell from her hand.

The Grimm turned around, its eyes boring into hers. It was bearing its teeth, almost smiling.

Ruby pulled her trigger. Crescent Rose clicked, firing nothing; she hadn't ejected the spent case yet. She tried to fire it again, before she registered what was happening and pulled the bolt back.

The Alpha flung Weiss over its shoulder moments before Professor Port's attack sliced it in two. She spun through the air with her eyes squeezed closed and her lips held tight.

A spiral of blood followed behind her as three more Beowolves lept for her, their jaws open.

"NO!"


	18. Chapter 3-4

What was the meaning of a gun?

Was it a symbol of individuality? Or one of oppression?

Neither.

A gun was a tool of killing, no more, no less.

Ruby had fought with Crescent Rose for a long time.

She'd designed and built her precious scythe from scratch. She also made sure to strip her down and oil her up after every major use.

Because of this, she was very familiar with the weight of her weapon. Because of this, she knew that she only had one round left.

One round left and three Beowolves to kill with it.

There was no way to do it. Three kills with one shot? Impossible!

She'd done plenty of impossible things over the past few months.

Ruby slammed the lever forward as the pulse of the Lightning Bolt sounded in her ears. She had denied it before, held it within when it was dying to be released.

If there was ever a time for sudden and irreversible violence, it was now.

When Ruby loaded the round, she closed her eyes and thought about how it flew.

A bullet traveled down a straight line, but there was no reason why that line had to connect two points.

 _She traced a line of bloody violence between the Beowolves and herself._

Ruby raised Crescent Rose to the sky and fired at the path. The blood showed the bullet the way.

It flew along the path of violence, a straight line between her barrel and her targets, not the physical world.

The three Beowolves exploded as they were struck. So did the fallen Alpha.

The trail of blood following Weiss's arc was her last target. It was a terrible smear on what should be, so she erased it.

Her bullet burned it away, tracing a new, crisp red line around her partner.

Someone gasped, she ignored them. Weiss was still falling and more Beowolves would be on her soon.

Violence had been done. Now she needed speed.

Ruby let go of Crescent Rose to free her hands. She pushed herself up, forcing her way out of the leg guards.

Her ATV's panels screeched in protest as they were forced to move out of her way. It kept moving forward, only slowing slightly. Ruby stepped onto it and leaned forward. She grabbed the middle of the handle while she tensed her legs.

Ruby lept from her ATV with all of her might. A mixture of rose petals and red particles followed her. The ends of her cloak cracked as they snapped in the air. As she flew, she spun herself around. Her cloak wrapped around her, turning her into an arrow heading straight for Weiss.

She matched her spiral to Weiss's. As she came in, Ruby scooped her up. One arm went under her knees and the other around her shoulders. She did her best to not pull Weiss's hair in the process.

Ruby held her tight, pressing Weiss into her chest so hard that Ruby could feel the blood seeping through her corset and one sleeve. She flipped herself over and landed in a crouch, leaning forward. Red grass and dirt flew in front of her as she skid to a stop.

A growl greeted her. Two Alphas stepped out from behind the ice and sank low, ready to pounce. Ruby held her position until they moved.

As they lunged, she charged. Ruby pulsed her Semblance and lept at the first one.

Before it could open its mouth, her boots slammed into its skull. She spun as she landed, digging her heels into its mask and coiling her legs.

Ruby released the tension and fired herself straight up, using her Semblance for a boost. She rocketed into the sky with her cloak wrapped around her to protect Weiss from the branches.

At the top of her flight, Ruby whipped back around and scattered a cloud of rose petals around them. She loosened her grip and looked down at Weiss as they landed on a branch.

She'd never realized just how small and fragile her partner was until now. Maybe it was the heels, the big sleeves, or just how she stood, but Weiss had always seemed bigger and in control. Now she was small, shivering, and helpless.

While Ruby avoided looking directly at the wound, the effects were hard to miss. Weiss had always been pale, but it had been healthy looking before, like a snow princess, instead of this terrible blue. Ruby could feel Weiss's heart pounding, but barely any of that force was reaching her legs. She was also shivering, even though she was drenched in sweat.

"Ruby?" Weiss whispered as her eyes flickered open, glassy and unfocused. She tried to move her head up, but fell onto Ruby's chest.

Ruby sucked in a breath, trying to not move too much and disturb her more. She hummed back, "Mmhhmm."

"What are you-" Weiss slowly raised a hand to Ruby's face and rubbed beneath her eyes. Her fingers were like ice. "Don't cry. It's ok. I'm safe now. I-"

Her eyelids fluttered and her hand fell. "I can finally…"

She collapsed again.

"No." Ruby's heart raced and her body trembled. "No, no, no, no, no. Weiss you need to-"

When she noticed Weiss's chest softly rising and falling, she stopped shaking. Weiss wasn't dead, just sleeping. Ruby held her close and took a couple of deep breaths. Her pulse slowed down, getting closer to Weiss's.

The tree suddenly shook.

Ruby teetered back and forth, clutching Weiss tighter.

"Eee!" She squealed as the shaking became more violent. Ruby glanced down, one of the Alphas had started climbing. Each time it lifted an arm up, its weight shifted and the tree moved with it.

She jumped to the next tree over, then the next one after that. Each time she got closer to the ground. The Alpha tried to follow, growing more and more off balance with each jump. Of course, Ruby was also getting closer to its claws.

If she wasn't holding onto Weiss, she could've kicked it down. It wouldn't be dead, but it also wouldn't be near her anymore. If it was a regular Beowolf she might've tried, but this one could have the reflexes to hit her. Right now that was an unacceptable risk.

"I've got Weiss and there's an Alpha chasing me." Ruby yelled over her mic. Moments later someone fired at it. Their rounds connected, but didn't do anything to stop it. After another jump she was only a couple of feet above it. "Hit it harder!"

Blake's katana burst through the leaves, spinning through the air as the alpha jumped again. It was caught in the elbow. The steel blade flashed and cut all the way through. The Grimm yelped and swiped at the tree with its remaining arm. It caught itself, but was left swinging.

This time Ruby did kick it. She landed on her heel, right on its claws.

It skidded down, but still held on. She pulsed her semblance and shot up. The Beowolf tore long strips of bark free as it fell.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at it. Then she hopped to a pair of branches she could easily keep her balance on.

None of the others were chasing after her, so she focused on trying to keep Weiss warm while the fighting finished. She wrapped her cloak around them and rubbed her partner's arms and legs as much as she could.

The shivering didn't stop.

Ruby wiped her face against her clean sleeve and waited. The battle beneath her was still raging, but she needed to keep Weiss safe. The other girl's breaths were so shallow she could barely feel them. No matter what she did, Ruby couldn't stop the heat from being leeched away. All she could do was slow it down.

* * *

It didn't take long for the gun shots to slow down and the last death howl to sound. Ruby hesitated for a moment, confirming that she couldn't hear anything besides the ATVs.

Ruby hopped down a few more times, ending just above everyone else's heads. They all turned their weapons to her. Yang and Blake lowered theirs almost immediately. Professor Port gave her a long look before turning his to the side, but still kept it in a ready position, unlike Blake and Yang.

"Good catch, Miss Rose." He said over the radio and nodded at her. "Come down so we can take care of Miss Schnee."

"What're you going to do?" Ruby whispered into her mic.

"What?" He sounded almost offended.

"What are you going to do to her?" Ruby clenched Weiss harder and said each word a long pause between it and the next. There was no way that Weiss's engine would just die like that. He'd also used an attack that moved much too slowly to save her from being stabbed.

A brilliant red glow surrounded her. Both Blake and Professor Port looked shocked, but she was beyond caring about that right now. She glared at the ground, waiting for a real answer.

"I am going to look at her wounds and then get her to Beacon's medical center." He said just as slowly as she had. Ruby idly noted that his grip tightened so much he was shaking, but she'd been paying more attention to Blake.

Ruby wasn't good at figuring out when people were lying and she knew this. Blake had always caught her before and hadn't reacted to what Professor Port said. As soon as she had this confirmation, Ruby relaxed.

She hopped down from the tree and laid Weiss on the ground while the others got off their ATVs. It was so much worse than she thought it would be.

Professor Port pulled his shaving kit from the storage compartment of his ATV and pushed past her. He looked over Weiss very quickly, first checking her forehead and then focusing on the major wounds. There was one through her gut and one on her thigh that Ruby hadn't noticed. He propped her leg up on the kit, after pulling a silky handkerchief out of it.

"Miss Rose." He gestured for her to come over and pushed the cloth into her hands. "What remains of her Aura is keeping most of the internal bleeding at bay, but it can't handle everything."

He placed the cloth, and her hand, just above the gash on Weiss's thigh. "Keep her leg raised and put pressure here. You'll need to hold it for several minutes and wait for the Bullhead to arrive."

Ruby wrapped her hands around Weiss's leg and pressed down as hard as she could. The bleeding slowed to a trickle. He stepped back and nodded. "Good."

"Now then, Miss Belladonna." He hefted his weapon again. "We're going to clear a landing zone. Miss Xiao Long, you keep watch for any Grimm."

Professor Port ran off, Blake trailing behind him.

Yang walked over to Ruby and froze. Her breath hitched and her fingers trembled. For a moment, less than a blink, Yang's eyes flashed red and the tips of her hair glowed. Then, just as suddenly, she turned away. "Dammit."

Yang picked a razor from the side of Professor Port's kit and stomped over to Weiss's fallen weapon. Myrtenaster was stuck in the ground, leaning at an angle. Her blade was slightly chipped, but unbent. Yang plucked her free and spun the cylinder by hand. She kept swearing under her breath the entire time. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn…"

"Yang, what're you doing?" Ruby called out without moving more than her head. She needed to keep her hands locked in place.

Her sister ignored her.

She finished spinning Myrtenaster and pulled the trigger. A stream of fire shot from the handle. Yang stuck the razor into it.

"Yang!"

Yang continued holding it despite how dangerous it was to be so close to a Dust fire that hot. The flames deflected off of the blade and reached for her hands, but she still had enough Aura to not be burned. Yang poured the fire onto the blade until the steel glowed a dull red.

Yang dropped Myrtenaster and started walking over to them.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Ruby asked again, her Aura blazing brighter.

"She's losing blood too fast."

"What do you mean?"

"Port was wrong. If you don't move-"

"How do you know that?!"

Ruby knew nothing about healing people. Her Aura made everything irrelevant if it wasn't bad enough to need a doctor. Yang, who studied even less than she did, had never taken a course of anything resembling it and needed help remembering what medicine to take for a cold.

"Stop being a stubborn idiot and move!"

Ruby grit her teeth. "How do you know-"

"Ruby, if you don't move right now, Weiss is going to die!" Fire erupted from Yang. It shot backward, blackening the grass.

Ruby tried to hold her eyes on Yang's, but had to break away. She let go of Weiss and turned her back to whatever Yang was doing.

She needed to trust her sister. Yang wouldn't do something like this unless she had a good reason. But Yang hadn't been acting like herself for days.

Ruby walked to where she dropped Crescent Rose and looked her over. Her stock and handle were both bent. Deep cuts dotted her frame and a small gear was lying on the ground nearby.

She wrapped her arms around her darling and held her tight. She stood there, muttering to herself. "Yang's good. Yang's good. Yang's good…"

She ignored the sound of sizzling flesh and waited for the Bulkhead to arrive.

It had taken them over an hour to fly here, so it must've been called in while they were in the middle of the fight. Especially since two of Beacon's doctors were onboard with a lot of medical supplies. They pulled Weiss to a special bed and stuck a bunch of things into her.

They said that getting the needles in was surprisingly hard, like her Aura had already started recovering.

Yang told them about what she did, which seemed to explain enough for them.

Ruby didn't ask them if Yang was right.

She sat next to Blake on the way back and stared out of the window, thinking about everything that happened over the past few days.

She'd wanted to come and help her team. It also allowed her to finally see what people were warning her about. Now, all she had was an ashen taste in her mouth and a hole in the pit of her stomach.

 _What were we doing out here? What are we trying to become?_

* * *

Beacon's medical center was really small. It had only ten beds and a small team of doctors. Weiss had been rushed to the single surgery room as soon as they landed. The rest of them were given the opportunity to shower and change their clothes. Then they waited.

They sat in the lobby for so long that Ruby was afraid that the worst had happened. Then the doctors said that it was a success and she would be fine.

Now they were waiting again.

Weiss was still unconscious, laying on one of the beds with a bunch of needles and tubes feeding her more blood and other liquid stuff. Some of the color had returned to her face, but it still wasn't right. Her arm had a long strip that looked like tape holding it together. Ruby didn't want to see what was underneath the hospital gown.

Ruby was sitting on one of the other beds with Yang in front of her. She was softly rocking back and forth while Ruby slowly pulled a wide comb through her sister's hair. They'd picked the leaves and twigs free, but she had so many knots it was ridiculous. Blake probably had them too, though she didn't seem to care about them or want any help.

None of them had really talked since Yang helped Weiss; instead they sat and waited. The doctors said that Weiss should wake up tonight, but that was hours ago and it was already getting dark. Ruby didn't want her to wake up to an empty room.

Ruby paused when she hit one of the bigger knots. They were allowed a little spray bottle of conditioner, which she had in her lap. She spritzed the bottom of the knot and started working strands of hair free. It was slow going, but better than anything else she could be doing.

It was like when they were little again. Yang would do something ridiculous and get really dirty. Then Ruby would spend hours untangling the mess she made of her hair. Blake took their dad's role, sitting in the corner and reading.

She looked over and checked the title, today was 'The Man with Four Souls.' Ruby'd been meaning to read the first one, but hadn't gotten around to it. Having that many souls would be pretty weird. Though, she wasn't sure if she'd even be able to notice it unless one of them fell off and started walking around.

Her Aura felt like one big blanket. It was nothing discret, like what some philosophers said it should be. But, Ruby hadn't studied those parts of Aura theory very much, so there might be something more to them.

She'd focused on practical things like weapon imbuement, material interactions, and combat techniques. Maybe Weiss would know more about how that worked. She seemed to know at least a little bit about almost everything.

Ruby sighed and tried, unsuccessfully, to shift her brain away from complicated things. If she had Weiss's, or any of the professors', help she could probably figure out the weird astrology things faster. She'd also be able to point Doctor Oobleck at exactly what he was doing wrong with the Dust turbine. But… Would telling them mean that she'd be in that bed next?

She looked at Weiss again, just in time to see her face move. Her lips pursed, her brow furrowed, and her eyelids tensed.

Ruby tapped Yang on the shoulder and pointed. They stood up as quietly as they could and crept over to the side of the bed. Ruby waved Blake over as well.

Blake shook her head, but joined them.

Ruby grabbed the edge of the sheet and twisted it while she watched.

Weiss kept moving her face slightly. Slowly, she got up to moving her head back and forth. Then her eyes opened.

She blinked twice before quickly shuffling backwards with her eyes wide open. She looked at each one of them in order, her lips held tightly shut.

"You're awake!" Ruby cheering and wrapped her arms around Weiss.

"Grah! Ruby why?" Weiss groaned and moved her hands in the way. She pushed Ruby away from her torso.

"Oops." Ruby dashed back, leaving a cloud of rose petals behind her. "I'm sorry."

Weiss waved the petals away and shook her head, but she ended in a smile. Then she looked at her injured arm and frowned. "How bad was it?"

Ruby opened her mouth and just let out a breath. She turned to Blake and Yang.

Blake answered first. "You almost died."

Weiss dropped her head and folded her hands in her lap. "Thank you for saving me."

"Weiss." Ruby gaped at her. "You don't need to thank us. We're your teammates."

"I was the target of an official Anathema investigation. I wouldn't have blamed you if-"

Ruby hugged her again. This time she was careful to just grab Weiss's head.

"What're you-" Weiss was muffled by her face being pressed into Ruby's chest.

"No. That- no. it was…" Ruby shook her head and squeezed harder. "It was terrible and awful and Professor Port shouldn't have-"

"Ruby." Yang and Blake both cut her off.

"I don't understand how he could do something like-"

"Ruby!" All three of them yelled.

"What?"

Weiss reached through Ruby's arms and pushed them away again.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Ruby, let's go out to Vale this weekend."

"What? Weiss why're you… How can you be so calm when-"

"Ruby." Weiss clapped her hands on Ruby's cheeks and held her face there. "I don't want to talk about that right now. Can we just relax for a bit?"

Ruby nodded. Weiss was the person who mattered most right now. So, if she didn't want to talk about it, then Ruby wouldn't bring it up.

"Good." Weiss let her go and collapsed onto the bed. She had a light sheen of sweat on her face and was breathing extra deeply. "I'm… Do any of you know where my scroll is?"

Ruby gulped. "Umm…"

"It's broken. Isn't it?"

"Yeah. Beowolves got it." Ruby nodded. Yang mimed claws and then an explosion.

Weiss groaned. "I have a spare in my locker that will suffice for now. I'll pick up another quality scroll in Vale."

Ruby looked at Yang, who nodded. Blake nodded too.

"Going into Vale's good. I was planning on suggesting it anyway and now I need to pick up some materials too."

"Why?"

Ruby dropped her head. "Repairs for Crescent Rose…"

Weiss paused. "Ruby, did you damage your scythe saving me?"

"Yeah. It's nothing really bad. The main body's still there, so're most of the internals. It shouldn't take too much to get going again, especially if Doctor Oobleck lets me-"

"No." Weiss shook her head. "You're not spending a cent on this."

"What?"

"You damaged her when you were saving my life. I'll buy whatever you need."

"Weiss, no. I can't ask you to-"

Weiss cut her off with a glare. "Ruby. I make more every month than you family does in several years. Let me buy this for you."

Ruby gaped at her. She knew Weiss was rich, really rich, but that was ridiculous. Yang looked just as surprised, but Blake didn't. She was giving Weiss a weird look, eyes squinted and mouth pursed to the side.

Weiss rolled her eyes at Blake. "That was slightly hyperbolic considering the amount of pay for Hunter bounties, but my point still stands."

Ruby gulped and looked to Yang. Yang smiled and shrugged. Ruby laughed nervously. "Ok, ok."

"We also need to buy you new clothing."

"No."

"Yes. Blood ruins fabric if it has a chance to sink in and your wardrobe is embarrassingly small."

"No." Ruby shook her head back and forth. "Yang back me up here. Parts are one thing, but…"

Yang's eyes lit up and she had an evil smile on her face.

"Nooooooooo!"

This time, Ruby got her sister to laugh.


	19. Chapter 3-i

Bullets flew through the air. Steel rang as it clashed with claws. One man stood against enough Grimm to slaughter a small city.

But, he wasn't at any risk. He looked at the horde, took a drink from his flask, and twirled his sword in a figure eight. With each swing, a wave of energy fired down the street.

Creeps and Beowolves fell as soon as it touched them. Small Nevermore were pulled into its wake by the pressure and then shredded by shrapnel as the wave shattered the cobblestone road. Even heavy Ursai and Boarbatusks were knocked to the side, only to be downed by the second blast. At the end of the road, the waves struck the wall of the church tower and shook the bells. The deep bonging drew even more Grimm to his kill zone.

He flew along the street, sometimes by leaping and sometimes by launching himself with a Gravity Dust shot. Every enemy within reach of his blade fell within two strikes. There were no elder Grimm here, nothing that would be a true threat, only scavengers and chaff that dug through the still burning remains of the town of Redwick.

A scroll started buzzing in the midst of the battle. It started playing a twinkling, mystical sound.

It was Ozpin's special ring tone. Of course it was.

He only called on this line when something very important happened. Hell, he only called in general when it was important, but which line it was determined what they could talk about. This was guardian business.

Qrow knew it was critical if Oz was contacting him, on this line. But did he always have to pick the worst time to call?

Then again, Qrow had been ignoring the Beacon Headmaster line for the past few days.

He jumped to the roof of a general store and scanned the road for high priority targets. As he looked around, Qrow pulled his scroll out and held it to his ear with his shoulder. He took aim at an Ursa across the road. "What is it, Oz?"

"Qrow, I'm glad you picked up. We need to discuss-" Ozpin began, but stopped when Qrow's gun barked. It took five shots to put the Ursa down. "Are you in the middle of something?"

"Yep, still searching for a needle in a haystack." Qrow spun around and sliced a Beowolf in half lengthwise. He followed up with a quick cross-slash, killing two more, all while his weapon was in gun mode.

"Are you in a secure location?"

"Yep," He said, popping his lips at the end of the word.

"Are you certain?"

"Yep." He pulled the secondary trigger and his weapon shifted back to sword mode with a whir of gears. He'd need to thank Ozpin for the help with the timing of those mechanisms at some point, just not right now. The old man knew his way around machines in a way that almost no one else did. "Unless you think the Grimm care. All that's left of this place are them and bodies I need to lay to rest."

"Very well." Ozpin sighed. "We need to talk about your niece."

"Urgh, what did Firecracker do this time?" Qrow groaned. Yang had a knack for finding trouble and Tai couldn't keep her out of it, even in his own classroom.

Qrow also knew some of the things that she was hiding from her old man: the boys, the partying, the bar fights, the boys, searching for her mom, the boys. It would have been hard for Qrow to not know about them when he'd gone to several of the same places in the past year and some old friends recognized her. His old friends, not Tai's. Poor guy would have a heart attack if he knew. They'd just hoped that going to Beacon would calm her down a little.

"A number of things, but she isn't the primary topic of the conversation."

"Okay, who is then?"

"Ruby?"

"Who?" The name sounded very familiar, but he couldn't quite put a face to it.

"Ruby Rose, Summer Rose's daughter. The girl that you taught how to use a scythe." Oz had a 'We've had this conversation before' tone to him.

"Uhhh." He paused and wracked his mind. He had taught someone to fight with a gun-scythe, but that wasn't Summer's kid it was… Someone who was small, with red hair and... Qrow tapped his forehead with his flask.

All of it came flooding back to him. The long nights they spent working on her scythe's design. The exhausting practice sessions where both of them wound up collapsing at the end. The first time she caught herself with the blade when she tried to pass her scythe behind her back. The way she got quiet whenever her mom was mentioned, but always bounced back with a smile.

"Damn." He took a swig from his flask. He knew that this would happen, but knowing it and actually experiencing it were two completely different things. "How many times is this?"

"The second. It's also the second time you've answered your phone since it happened." Ozpin was probably annoyed, but he didn't let it show in his tone.

"Well, what about her then?"

"She has been far less subtle with her new abilities than I had hoped."

Qrow waited a moment. "Go on."

"Peter reported that she used something strange to shoot several Beowolves. Her gun was pointed away from them when she pulled the trigger, but all three were struck down at once."

"That's not so bad. Plenty of Hunters can develop skills like that." Qrow left off the very important 'after they'd graduated from Beacon and had a decade of field experience.' clause.

"She also lit up so brightly that it was hard for him to look directly at her. No where near the intensity that you would see from the other Anathema, but there is only so much probable deniability that people will accept."

"Uh huh." Qrow tightened his grip on his sword. "So what's the damage?"

"Right now, nothing. There are still other candidates and she has only done this in sight of her team and Peter. If she ever does it in public, then we will have a substantial problem on our hands."

"Good luck. Restraint isn't in that kid's vocabulary, especially if friends or family are involved." Qrow could remember how insistent Ruby was about her training. She bugged him for weeks, catching him between every class when he was teaching full-time. When that didn't work, she even went as far as hiding his favorite whiskey bottle. There's only so much a man can put up with.

"That's why I'm going to be bring James and Glynda to the eastern Drakon ruins."

"Whew, finally dropping that bomb on them then?" Qrow remembered his first time out there. A shiver ran down his spine. He hated that place. Just thinking about looking at it hurt his eyes.

"Would you care to join us?"

"Nah, I've got better things to do." Qrow could think of a lot things better than going back there, hugging an Ursa wasn't even halfway down that list. For instance, he could catch up with his sister. They could talk about a time when she wasn't making his life a living hell, there had to have been a point where that was true.

He took another swig from his flask. Maybe she'd remember it, because he'd done his best to forget. He took a larger gulp. _Ahh, family._

"Besides, I'm gonna punch Jimmy in the mouth the next time I see him." Qrow had a lot of feelings about what the Atlas military was researching under the command of General James Ironwood, none of them good. Funding a project on directly manipulating souls was the most recent on a laundry list of bad decisions that Jimmy had been making. The nickname, which he hated, was the least damaging way that Qrow could get back at him. It was also so, very satisfying because objecting would make the General look childish. "By the way, how's Amber holding up?"

"She's stable."

"Glad to hear it…" He sighed and swirled the flask. "She deserves better than this."

"Indeed."

That poor girl never asked to be given phenomenal cosmic powers, but she did her best to be responsible with them. She'd always wanted to help people and tried to make the lives of everyone easier whenever she could. They could never be too overt, but even bringing small changes to the weather could impact thousands in a great way. In a way, she reminded Qrow of Summer… and his niece, Ruby. They were always looking on the bright side and remaining hopeful, even when they had no right to be so optimistic.

Then he failed at his job and she got locked in Jimmy's stasis machine. She was stuck between life and death while they searched for someone to accept a soul transplant from her. All that so they didn't lose access to the Fall Maiden's power.

Jimmy promised him that she wouldn't feel a thing. Qrow didn't believe that for a second.

Atlas could replace every part of someone's body and they'd still be the same person. Once you started messing with someone's soul though... That way led down a lot of dark roads which were best left forgotten. Oz mentioned that once, it sounded like he knew about it first hand, but he'd never elaborated. They all kept secrets from each other, 'need to know' was the name of the game. Though Oz had more than anyone else.

Qrow thought of the literal dark roads that they'd be traveling down. There was something else that they hadn't tested in Her lands yet, which might be important. "Considering all of the extra energy in the area, I'm worried that Jimmy might kick it. His iron heart might not be able to take all of the stress, especially with Glynda around too."

He was sure there was some sort of history between those two. They certainly argued like people who'd made some youthful mistakes together. He hadn't looked into it too hard though, they deserved their privacy and he wanted his own.

"I'm fairly certain that he hasn't had his heart replaced." Oz, as always, was above commenting further.

"Could've fooled me." Qrow shook his head and shot at a couple of Grimm that thought they were sneaking up on him. Two shots, two kills. "But seriously though. Are all of his bits and pieces going to be okay out there?"

"We haven't had issues with anything other machinery, disregarding enemy action, but I will send him a warning about potential Aura surges."

"Good, good." Qrow mumbled and watched the town burn. It had taken years to build, but only hours to destroy. Times like this were why he hated the job. They were also the reason why he would never want to do anything else. Teaching the next generation was important; but this would never have happened if he'd gotten here earlier. "How are the girls doing? You gave them some pretty impressive rating in that packet."

"We just concluded Miss Schnee' second official investigation."

"And?"

"She passed and is alive, but heavily injured."

"Such a shame." Qrow slicked an errant bang back up. If the Schnee heiress died during something like that, there'd be hell to pay for Beacon, but it would have been worth it. That was one family that the world could do without. They'd almost gotten lucky with Klaus' assassination.

"Miss Schnee was chosen to be investigated first due to an impassioned speech she gave in defense of the Faunus. It had a positive effect on many of the other students."

"Teh. Maybe she's better than the rest of them, but I'm not holding my breath." Qrow knew that Ozpin and Glynda disagreed with him about how bad the Schnee were. Jimmy was practically in their pocket and the other headmasters didn't seem to care. It was one of the few things that he and Raven still agreed on.

"She was also the most likely candidate from the initial results according to both Glynda and Peter. Bartholomew has other ideas."

"He nailed Little Red on his first guess."

"That he did. If he's correct with his other theories, then either they are the next team STRQ or all of them are Anathema."

"Huh..." Qrow fired another blast down the street, this time he collapsed a pavilion onto a pack of Grimm. If that was true, he knew the type of pressure RWBY would soon be put under all too well.

His team, STRQ, had been the top of their class at Beacon thanks to the lucky coincidence of four highly driven people all being placed on the same team. They nearly swept the Vytal Tournament as freshmen and kept rising from there. Everyone else thought they would be the next leaders of the world, glorious heroes who would succeed where the last generation failed and take back some territory from the Grimm.

They even had a shot at it too. Especially after Ozpin told three of them the truth and brought them into his cabal. Each was given an important post where they could pull strings and fight back against humanity's real enemy. Tai, the lovable goof, couldn't keep a secret to save his life, so he was their public face. Team STRQ became the Hunters that people put their faith in and tried to emulate.

And, for a time, it looked like things were turning around. The Grimm were being pushed back and Vale was trying to expand beyond its borders for the first time in decades.

Then Raven ran away, abandoning Tai and baby Yang. Keeping her whereabouts a secret strained his and Tai's relationship to a point where it never recovered. Summer stuck with Tai and pulled back from all the fame and secrets so she didn't have to lie. For a few years, they were stable again; but, the illusion of their unity was shattered. People stopped believing in them and they stopped helping each other. Without each other as support, they stagnated.

No man could be an island and there were precious few people that Qrow could really talk shop with anymore. Those who could were so busy playing politics, or dealing with personal drama, that they couldn't work with him to push to a new level and get within reach of the might of the Maidens... or Ozpin.

Tai would have been his go-to, but he fell off the horse when Summer vanished and could only be called the most powerful Huntsman in Patch. He and Summer moved there so they could get away from people who knew their faces, so it made sense for him to stay on the island and raise the girls. Meanwhile, Qrow could count all of his current peers on both hands.

If Summer was still around, everything would be better. Qrow would have someone else who got him on a fundamental level and both of them might be able to rein Raven in. Instead, her husband raised their kids alone and Qrow found his solace in alcohol, whenever he wasn't cleaning up his sister's messes.

"Mmh." Oz broke the silence, snapping Qrow back to reality.

That was what these conversations did to him, getting caught up thinking about the past and could-have-beens. "Those're big shoes to fill. It won't be easy for them."

"No it won't, especially if any of them are Anathema. Their souls may already have scars that we cannot see."

"Don't do this to me, Oz."

"It's a possibility that we have to consider."

"She's my niece." They already knew about Ruby, so he had to be talking about Yang.

"You're one of the few who I can rely on. If the worst comes to pass, we may need your scythe."

Qrow grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Tai would never forgive him. "If it comes down to it…You can rely on me. But we're doing it my way and only after we're absolutely, one hundred percent sure."

"I pray it doesn't come to that. But if she does have that unstoppable power, then I trust you to do what is best for the Kingdoms. For most, a painless death would be preferable to what they would receive on the run… or in Her service."

"You don't think I know that? I've spent more time outside the walls than anyone else. I know that there's nothing out here except for more Grimm than we can deal with. They would just drown her in bodies when she rejects the offer." Qrow sat down and took another drink. Even if it was true, he knew that there was no chance of Yang joining the Grimm. She'd bash her head against the endless horde until the bitter end.

"It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened. Especially if she's given an offer of sanctuary for whichever village she finds."

"Even if one of them could hold a city, it would be too obvious. They'd be found by other Hunters and that would be that. Worst comes to worst, one of the Maidens could ruin their land and starve them out."

Being out here, constantly under siege, was no way for people to live. The knowledge of what lurked outside of their flimsy defenses would grind even the strongest souls down to nothing. It was inevitable than any outer settlement would fall. New technology gave people hope that they could last for a decade, yet the most remote settlements were being lost faster than ever before thanks to the Grimm being more aggressive and Her agents sabotaging defenses. As each toppled, they took knowledge, food, and Dust that Vale needed with them. All of the nearby villages also suffered from the hopelessness that refugees brought with them, making them that much more tempting to the elder Grimm. "Oz… Can we even sustain this?"

"In some ways, we're weaker than we've ever been before. I fear what a sudden shock would do to us. If we lack the power of the Maidens to act as a stabilizing factor, then we can't respond to the waves that even a single great force would cause. I can only hope that we find the new Maidens soon."

Qrow winced. The old man was right in that regard, not that the public knew anything about it. The shadow war had a constant give and take. It was a complicated game of hidden identities and assassination where they never knew how many pieces were being fielded at once. The enemy tried to kill the Maidens and they tried to kill Her operatives. Success on either end cost years of time and effort for the other party.

They were down two Maidens, three depending on how you looked at it. Missing one, whether due to time spent searching for or training the new bearer, wasn't unusual. The Maidens displayed most of the secondary signs of being Anathema to those who knew what to look for, so new ones often hid their powers as well as they could. If the power wasn't passed to someone close to the original, finding the current bearer was incredibly difficult.

"We'll need more than hope there. I've had no luck identifying either Amber's assailants or the new Winter Maiden. Just more dead ends with Raven's fingerprints all over them. If she beats us to the new girl…" Qrow had heard rumors of a strange ice Semblance in this area. That was why he came out here in the first place. That and getting away from Vale. He couldn't cut loose in the city anymore; there were too many people who cared about property damage.

"There are other avenues of investigation we haven't touched on. Who else could she have thought of in her last moments? If you can't think of anyone, we could bring someone else in." Ozpin asked that question. That was the main reason why Qrow didn't answer his calls unless it was actually important.

"Oz." Qrow channeled his Aura into his blade and fired a wave through the ruins. The ground rumbled as even more buildings collapsed. He didn't care if any Grimm got caught in the rubble. "Don't make me think about that right now. I'm too sober for it."

He took a long gulp to make a point. "There are two people closer to her than I was, one of them has no idea what's going on and the other is my sister. Who, need I remind you, isn't exactly cooperating with the rest of us."

"Never underestimate the power of family, Qrow. Its influence can span lifetimes. You could still bring her back." More words of wisdom from Ozpin that made Qrow roll his eyes.

As far as he knew, Ozpin didn't have any kids or siblings. He'd never had to deal with someone who knew where all of your buttons were and didn't hesitate to push them as soon as an argument started turning against her. Qrow and Raven making up was about as likely as Tai's dog learning to talk, even if they could ever reconcile their opinions on what the Maidens should be doing.

Qrow raised his flask to his mouth again; it was empty. He grumbled into his scroll, "Oz, you owe me a drink the next time I'm at Beacon. You literally killed my buzz with this talk."

Ozpin didn't have a chance to respond because feathers don't transmit any signals. Qrow activated his Semblance. He shifted to his crow form and flew out of the desolated village, all of his gear merging with his new body.

 _Tenth one this year._ Qrow thought as he looked around at the shattered buildings and mentally sighed. _If this was all they could do, then maybe the world needed something better to believe in…_


	20. Chapter 4-1

Team RWBY spent the night in the medical center. They each had a bed to themselves and even the relatively hard mattresses were heavenly compared to camping in the woods. That wasn't to say that the forest was necessarily bad, just lacking several important conveniences such as comfortable beds and running water.

They were woken up early in the morning by Professor Goodwitch, almost two hours before classes would begin, for a short debriefing about the events of the investigation.

"Being the subject of a formal investigation is one of the most difficult things that can happen to you in your careers as Huntresses. It is exhausting by design, both mentally and physically. Sometimes it even results in a great deal of bodily harm, such as what happened to Miss Schnee, or psychological stress. But that doesn't mean that these injures can't be healed. If, at any point, there's something that you want to talk about, either one of the Professors or Beacon's psychologists will make time for you." She looked at each of them in order.

Weiss also glanced at her teammates. They needed this far more than she did.

Ruby and Yang were both completely closed off. The former sat on a bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. She was watching Professor Goodwitch very intently, occasionally glancing at Weiss or Blake. Yang leaned against a wall with her arms crossed. She was barely paying attention, looking either at the floor or out the window. Blake, who was doing well by comparison, simply held herself very still with a neutral expression.

"Someone being hurt like that is regrettable. Howev-"

"Then why do it?" Ruby interrupted.

"Please explain, Miss Rose."

"If you'd regret doing it, then why would you do it?"

Professor Goodwitch's expression tightened. "There are times when you need to do something that you personally dislike in order to protect people."

"If something feels wrong, then it's wrong and you shouldn't do it."

"While your dedication to doing the right thing is admirable, the world is not so simple that everyone can do that."

"We're supposed to be heroes! Heroes don't do that."

Weiss grit her teeth, but didn't open her mouth. If Ruby's naivety was this infuriating to her, she could barely imagine how it felt to someone who was complicit in the investigation. Yes, they were supposed to be heroes, that's why they kept what happened a secret and only allowed certain Hunters to perform them in the first place.

Professor Goodwitch took a short breath. "Ruby, your earnestness means that you will be an amazing front-line Huntress some day. However, there are other methods of defending people. There are times when you may need to be deceptive in order to have someone reveal information they may not have otherwise."

Ruby grumbled under her breath.

"We can discuss this more during your personal debriefing." Professor Goodwitch looked at each of them in turn. "Each of you will have a personal session where we can talk about any concerns that you have. Please, take the next day and think about what happened, along with how you felt about it."

She waited for a moment.

"You've each been relieved from your classes and assignments until next week. You can go wherever you wish, but do not speak with anyone else about what happened during the investigation. We've sent out a message to all team leaders notifying them that Miss Schnee is safe and some other students will have questions for you. For their safety, it's very important that you keep what happened to yourself. Do you understand?"

Weiss and Blake nodded immediately.

After a moment, Professor Goodwitch repeated herself. This time her voice had a slight edge. "Do you understand?"

Ruby and Yang looked at her, nodded once, and then looked away again.

"Thank you. Now then, you'll need to leave the overnight room while the doctors are checking on Weiss' wounds. I've arranged for an early breakfast to be made for all of you."

She led the rest of the team out as the doctors came in. The remainder of the early morning was a blur of pain tests and rebandaging for Weiss. Though it wasn't really needed because she could stop the bleeding whenever she wanted to. While she may be physically weak, her Aura felt stronger than ever before. Something had clicked during her delirium. She didn't know what it was, but it felt like she could bend more Aura to her will and draw on enough to experiment freely, without any worries of revealing herself. The possibilities were endless. Though she did have her priorities, many of which could be worked on from a hospital bed.

She hoped that her teammates were doing something as constructive as she was while they de-stressed, but doubted that was actually the case.

Ruby was almost guaranteed to be fretting in the machine shop, Blake escaping into a novel somewhere private, and Yang fooling around with one of her fans in the woods. For all that Weiss dreamt of her teammates taking their elite status seriously, especially in the wake of an investigation, the reality of the situation always presented itself.

Thankfully, Ruby brought her backup scroll to her after breakfast. There was a lot of news for her to catch up on; not the least of which was the productivity reports that she'd been waiting for.

She scanned those with one hand, while the other rewrote all of her notes from the forest. While she could do all of the required math in her head, there was no reason to when she had a computer to do so for her. It would just take a fair bit of time to recreate everything, but she had time now. Time to wait and consider what the best course of action was, now that she was safe.

While she read and typed, Weiss also reviewed everything that had been revealed during the investigation. Her teammates had more hidden talents than she expected, which needed to be incorporated into her model of the situation. The source of Yang's medical skills, which according to Ruby had saved Weiss' life, and Ruby's continued existence were highest on the list of unknowns.

If Weiss had been as blatant with her abilities as Ruby was, she'd have been killed immediately. While her leader was missing all of the primary signs, the Professors could not have missed the multitude of secondary signs she'd displayed. They knew something that the Schnee family didn't, something very important. While that wasn't surprising, it did make predicting Ruby's actions, and Beacon's response to said actions, incredibly difficult.

What was it that made Ruby different? Strictly missing the primary signs would not have held off an investigation this long, especially the first one. Was it how her abilities displayed themselves? They were more blatantly different than anything else she'd seen. Perhaps Ruby was just fortunate that everyone forgot about her. That ability, by itself, merited more concern than had been shown.

When the door opened, Weiss glanced up and changed the tab on her browser to a very bright and colorful page. At the same time, she forced her Aura to flow over her scroll. This was the perfect moment to work on one of her theories.

Watching Blake fight had given her an idea which needed testing. Her teammate continuously replaced herself with phantom images. From the Schnee records, many Anathema had been seen performing similar feats. _Weiss pressed her Aura outward and sculpted it as if it were the highest grade of Dust. The energy spiraled around the scroll as it faded from sight._

"Schnee." The brunette nodded and sauntered into the room with a confidence that few at Beacon possessed. She was tall, lithe and knew how to emphasize exactly what she wanted to with each movement. In this case, it was power and authority. She'd also accessorized her uniform to the point where it would be gaudy for anyone who didn't know exactly how to balance their outfit. Fortunately, she did. The sunglasses indoors was a bit ridiculous, but of course a member of the Adel family would do something like that.

"Adel," Weiss responded evenly, waiting to see how she would have to play this. Coco was Weiss' senior at Beacon by a year and a team leader, but her family was junior in most external matters. Which made interactions complicated. The Adel family was wealthy enough to have to be invited to most events, but lacked the influence for a seat in the back room. If Coco was here as a member of her family, then her attitude would be a slight Weiss couldn't ignore.

"As the leader of team CFVY," she spoke slowly, as if the words themselves were distasteful. Weiss inwardly sighed with relief, even though her expression relaxed into a soft smile. "I've come to express my sincere gratitude for your assisting my teammate last Friday. Velvet's too shy to say it herself, but she appreciates knowing that you would stand up for the Faunus."

"Think nothing of it. It's what any Huntress should have done." Weiss shook her head with a smile, deflecting any debt that might be related to their families. If Coco wished to speak as students and Huntresses, then Weiss was happy to oblige.

"Whew." Coco recognized the change and her posture relaxed a moment later. Her confidence was still there, but the pressing need for authority had vanished. "You have no idea how worried I was that I'd be diving into a shark tank. I came to Beacon to get away from all of that snooty nonsense."

Weiss couldn't help agreeing, though she also ran her tongue along the points of her teeth. Coco had no idea just how close to the edge she had been. In many ways, being surrounded by Beowolves felt safer than being on the ballroom floor. At least the Grimm were openly hostile.

Coco ran her fingers through her hair and flicked it over her ear. "Seriously though, thanks. Someone like you standing up for her like that means a lot to me."

"I'm glad I could help. Have things been better for her?"

"Sort of." Coco wiggled her hand back and forth. "On one hand, people are standing up for the Faunus whenever someone tries something. On the other, Velvet's become the go-to target for all of the human trash at Beacon."

Weiss smirked at someone else using her own phrase. "Has someone been looking out for her?"

"Duh. Yatsuhashi is surprisingly sneaky." Coco's gigantic teammate successfully hiding from someone was an odd thought. "I'm not sure if she's noticed him tailing her."

"That's probably better overall then, but still disappointing," Weiss sighed. She knew that one speech wouldn't change everything, but she'd hoped for it to have more of an effect.

"Hey, change takes time." Coco shrugged. "People hating racists as much as the racists hate the Faunus is still good."

"True enough."

For some time, they waited in silence, watching each other. Weiss was happy to continue as long as she needed to. Coco had obviously come here for more than one reason and this was a much more uncomfortable situation for her than it was for Weiss. Besides, other plans and thoughts could be formulated during the lull.

It also allowed her to test her Aura manipulation from earlier. Coco hadn't reacted to what should be on the screen yet and Weiss herself couldn't tell where her scroll was. She still tilted her legs so that it would be pointing directly at the other girl. Who didn't seem to notice.

Weiss resisted the urge to smirk. This had a lot of potential. If only she could find a means of concealing her Aura like that, then she would truly be safe.

"You can really play hardball." Coco broke after less than a minute. "There was something else I came here for."

She twirled her wrist, closing her hand and then reopening it. Between her fingers was a small flower pin. Its petals were alternating rainbow colors that burst from a gold and silver stem. Weiss had seen them on a handful of upperclassmen and Professor Chartreuse, who was in his early thirties at best. Coco herself had one on her left lapel.

"It's for you. For surviving your investigation."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She had assumed that the pins had some meaning, but didn't expect it to be that.

"I thought I'd stop by before the hordes of well wishers arrive."

That didn't explain what she wanted to know. "There are more students who've been investigated than I've seen pins. Also, why would you come here in particular if you wanted to give it to me? Classes have barely begun."

"Velvet said you weren't in class, so I excused myself from mine and noticed your team going to your room without you. There's only one reason why you wouldn't be with the rest of them." Coco pointed over her shoulder, at one of the corner beds. "That bed was mine."

She walked over to Weiss and held the pin out for her. "It's for those of us who were badly injured as part of the investigation. If there's anything you want to talk about, then you can come to anyone who wears it. That's the promise it symbolizes: support and understanding."

Weiss searched Coco's face for any trace of deceit. To wear something like that would be taken as a sign of weakness in every other society she'd interacted with. To the masses, only someone of questionable character would be accused in the first place. To the elite, an accusation was a tool which could be aimed at you a single time. It was also something that was seen as inevitable; and as such, to be publicly affected by what happened was a sign of mental or physical weakness. Such accusations very rarely became actual investigations, so very few had any idea what it entailed.

Of course, the severity of the investigation for a normal person paled in comparison to what happened to a Hunter. A trivial accusation would have been leveled against her eventually, if only for political reasons, and she may have to whether several once she started performing more actions of consequence. Passing an investigation as a Hunter was as close to an ironclad defense as you could get. They protected their ranks with more dedication than anyone else, except for the Atlesian military.

"I didn't believe it at first either, but things really are different here. The secrets, the masks, the posturing… None of that matters." Coco smiled softly and Weiss matched it, but her smile wasn't real.

As much as she loved that idea of an open community like that, and knew that Coco wholeheartedly believed in it, she had a secret that mattered more than anything else. One she could not afford to let anyone she didn't completely trust know about. Blake would be informed only when she had more control over her unconscious reactions. But until then, Weiss' true status was something that must be kept secret, no matter how lonely it was.

Even so, the offer did warm her heart more than she could afford to allow it to. If she showed those feelings, then she might accidentally give herself away by caring too much. It was better to be deceptive in a manner that still got the meaning across. There was only one question she had to answer. What sort of relationship did she want to leave this encounter with? There were a number of options with short-term or long-term benefits, depending on their roles.

"Thank you." Weiss pouted slightly and made her lips tremble slightly. She laced her statement with another, unspoken, one. ' _I truly appreciate this, but cannot openly wear it right now.'_

Given everything Coco had said, she expected that it would be similar enough to what Velvet had done in the past to provoke the right reaction. When Coco cooed softly, Weiss knew she'd been right.

"When you're ready." Coco handed the pin to Weiss. "It took me a while to get used to it too."

Weiss nodded. _Someday._

* * *

Ruby stared at the workbench and briefly closed her eyes as tightly as she could. She took a long breath, clenched her fists, and then opened her eyes to see the damage. Crescent Rose's components were laid out in four piles: undamaged, cosmetic damage, fixable, and unsalvageable. The final two piles were by far the largest. It hurt to see her like this. But, Ruby would rather rebuild Crescent Rose from scratch than have Weiss be injured worse.

She picked up the side grip and rolled it in her hand. It fit almost as snugly as it had before, her fingers traced the shallow dips she'd worn into it with long hours of practice. The only problem was a deep gash where her palm rested. Technically it was fixable. She could sand the edges down and fill the gash in, but the metal would be so much weaker after that was finished. It would be a much better idea to replace it, even if her grip would be a little weird for the next few months.

With a lot of practice, and some shaping as it was made, she could get it to the right point much faster. Pyrrha was probably still practicing most nights. Hopefully she wouldn't mind someone else joining her. Ruby could also pick her brain for other astrology stuff too. Her prediction had be so wrong it was almost funny.

Ruby sighed and shook her head. Weiss shouldn't have been hurt like that. It was absolutely terrible that it could even be allowed to happen! If the rest of them hadn't come along, then Weiss would've died. At least, Yang still thought that she would've.

That was something else that bugged her. Her teammates used their Auras way more than anyone else, besides Jaune, did. When she listened to the Professors, only Doctor Oobleck was comparable and what he was doing was obvious. Weiss knew how to use Sorcery, but Ruby didn't know how that would help her when she was arguing. Maybe it was a breathing thing? She could be changing her voice somehow in order to argue better. That didn't fit with either Blake or Yang though.

Once her sister had a chance to calm down, she'd ask about it. She could when they were down in Vale, but then everyone else would also be there. That'd be a little awkward, especially because she was still keeping secrets from Yang too. Secrets that she'd promised not to reveal.

" _The system is rotten to its core."_ A particular quote came to her mind again. It had been coming to her ever since the ride back. She'd never believed it before, but now that-

"Umm, Ruby?" Nora poked her head through the workshop door. She smiled nervously and waved as Ruby looked up.

"Hi, Nora." Ruby waved back.

"So… We were wondering-" Nora jumped forward, shot a dirty look at the door, and then shuffled into the room. When she got to the bench, she glanced at the piled and hissed, "Ohhh, that sucks.."

"It's alright. I'll get her back together real soon." Ruby tried to smile in a reassuring manner, but just matched Nora's nervousness. At the same time, she couldn't help wondering why her friend was acting like this. She'd shared a lot of really important things without being this bad.

"Well I- Wait she?" Nora blinked a couple of times and scratched the side of her head.

"Yeah, Crescent Rose just feels like a she. You know?"

"I guess it's kinda curvy."

"That's not really why I-"

"Ohh, what about Magnhild? He or she?"

"He, definitely he."

"Really? Cuz if I was going to pick a gender I would've said she's a girl. You know: elegant, sexy, powerful." Nora slammed a fist into her other palm. "Just like me."

"Uhh.." Ruby drew out the word and thought back to all of the times that she'd seen Nora fight. Only two of the words she'd just used made sense and they weren't the two that Ruby would use to describe Nora's weapon.

Someone in the hallway coughed.

Nora glanced back to the door without moving her head. A shadow, that Ruby hadn't picked up on before, shifted. It was someone very tall. Who was standing next to two other people, who were also tall. Then she heard Jaune's Aura pulse and everything suddenly made sense.

"Nora, is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"So, Jaune got an email this morning and he wanted to find you guys. But none of you were in your room so we went searching for you. Eventually we found Blake, she was hiding in the corner of a study room reading a little black book. It was one of _those_ books that- you know -Pyrrha and Jaune take one look at and turn bright red, but I'm totally cool with. Not that I've ever read anything like that! I mean could you imagine me reading a book about sexy ninjas, psssh." She babbled very quickly.

Ruby quirked her head to the side and opened her mouth, but Nora just kept going, "Anyway we asked her a bunch of questions and she didn't really answer any of them. But she said that you or Yang could tell us more about what happened! Also that she didn't know where Yang was. She thought you'd be down here and now I know why and I'm so sorry that your scythe got damaged like that."

"It's fine. It was worth it to-"

"Okay, so it's fine, but it still sucks and-"

"Nora, get to the point," Jaune shouted from the hallway.

"Right, right. I'm sorry." Nora ran her hand along the side of her neck and looked everywhere except at Ruby. "So, yeah. We were wondering… where's Weiss?"

"What?"

"You see. Jaune's email said that there was a chance that Weiss might've possibly been investigated and we didn't see any of you in class today, or your room, and Blake clammed up when we mentioned her. So… Jaune kinda assumed that something potentially bad may have happened to her, but I thought that she was just being Weiss and giving everyone the cold shoulder because she was annoyed at us for not trusting her. I mean it's not like something really bad would happen during one of these investigation things. If a bunch of everyday, run-of-the-mill people could figure out that someone's an Anathema, then our teachers have to have better ways. Right? I mean, we told you about how our old priest figured it out and he wasn't even a Huntsman-"

Ruby continued watching Nora spout word after word. Did she even need to breath?

"-So, that's why we wanted to know where she is and if she's okay." Nora finally stopped and took a huge breath.

"Umm…" Ruby didn't know what the rules for visiting the medical wing were like, or if Weiss even wanted people to know, but telling JNPR seemed like it should be okay. "Well… She did get hurt really badly on our mission. So she's in the medical center... She actually almost died."

Nora's awkward smile immediately fell off of her face.

"WHAT?" Jaune roared and started moving for the door, but he was held back by Pyrrha grabbing his arms.

"What happened?" Nora whispered so softly Ruby could barely hear it.

"She-" Ruby cut herself off and thought about her friends. Could any of them also be on the investigation list? If what Weiss and Yang... and all of the Professors... said was true, then letting them know would just cause them more pain when it happened. And now Ruby knew exactly what pain that could be.

Would letting them know make it that much worse? Or would it allow them to be ready for it and not get hurt as badly? None of them were bad, so knowing about it shouldn't be an issue.

Her breath caught in her throat. Ruby thought about it felt when Weiss was bleeding in her arms again. How her body was so cold because all of the heat was leaking into Ruby's clothes. Ren and Nora had almost lost everything once already. All they had left was each other.

"She was stranded in a horde of Beowolves," Ruby said just loud enough for all of JNPR to hear.

Pyrrha gasped, yanked Jaune to the ground, and ran in the room while he recovered. "Ruby! You're not supposed to tell anyone about-"

"We tried to get to her as fast as we could," Ruby said with each word getting louder, until she could be clearly heard over Pyrrha, "But we were too late. Her Aura broke and an Alpha Beowolf got to her first. I… I don't know if it was a planned part of the investigation."

"Ruby!" Pyrrha stared at her. "Why would you-"

"Because they should know about it. Because… Because something's wrong." Ruby felt the handle warp as she squeezed it. "That's not what Hunters are supposed to do. It's just like Weiss said on Friday. You don't leave people to the Grimm, no matter what."

Pyrrha opened her mouth, but she didn't say anything. She clenched her fists and turned away.

Nora was frozen, staring at the ground.

Jaune slowly poked his head in, wincing when he saw them. "Do… Do you think we could see her?"

* * *

Nora peeked into the overnight stay room. Weiss turned to her and nodded. "Nora."

Weiss' face was completely still, like it was whenever she was working on something. Which was a little weird because she didn't have her scroll. Well, she was in the hospital and was still being fed blood so a little weirdness was okay in Nora's book.

Nora watched the blood bag drip twice while the others were still catching up to her. This wasn't at all what she expected to have happen. Either Weiss was a demon, and then she would get found out and be killed. Or, she wasn't one, which meant that Jaune was just really weird.

Standing around and staring at the injured person was also weird, but Nora hadn't exactly done something like this before. She needed to say something, something to break the ice.

Nora dashed over to Weiss' bed and latched onto her with one of the biggest hugs she could. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Weiss winced and tried to get her arms in the way, but she was no match for Nora's hugging might! Now that she'd seen just how bad it was, she completely agreed with Ruby. Weiss needed all of the hugs!

Though, Weiss didn't seem to agree with that idea. She tried to push Nora away, but she wasn't strong enough to do so normally and she was still really hurt so right now she had no chance. Seriously, she still had a bunch tubes going into her. After a brief moment of thought, Nora let go, slipped her arms under Weiss', then wrapped her arms around just Weiss' torso so she didn't press against any of the tubes.

Weiss groaned. "Why?"

"I was the one who went to Professor Port."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"I talked to him early last week about how I was worried that you might be an Anathema because of how weird Jaune was around you! Like, more than normal boy weird, I'm not sure if you're heard it, but he does this thing where his voice almost cracks, only instead of cracking it just goes really, really high. He really didn't like me saying bad things about you, Jaune that is, so we were fighting and arguing about it all week, but always just in our room so you didn't overhear. And then you gave the big speech on Friday. It was a really good speech, but it also felt a lot like the last time an Anathema told me to do something. The weird feeling where you're still you, but you're also not you and you can watch your body moving and it's ignoring you when you try telling it not to do something. It's actually terrifying and I really don't recommend ever doing it. Especially because I can still feel a lot of what she said in the back of my head, demanding that I train even harder to be a perfect soldier."

Nora paused to take a big breath while Weiss froze. For a brief moment the color drained from the other girl's face and her pupils dilated to the point where they almost took over her irises. But, within the blink of an eye, everything but her heart rate was back to normal.

"So, while you were gone we kept arguing and I said that if you were really a demon they'd find out and kill you, but I didn't really think about how they'd find that out. Last time it just sort of happened and then I hammered her. Sure, it happened after a fight, but I was sure that the teachers would have something else they could do. Something like really intense good-cop, bad-cop or locking you in a room until you confessed or something. Not like, you almost being eaten by Beowolves-"

Weiss snapped her head up and narrowed her eyes at someone behind Nora. It was probably Ruby, but all Nora could see was Weiss' hospital gown.

"-especially because you're not a monster. And that means that someone must've left you to be eaten on purpose and… and I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!"

Weiss closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened them again. "Nora, none of what happened to me was your fault."

"But she-" Jaune started to speak.

"None of it was her fault." Weiss spoke over him. "It was inevitable that I would be investigated. I'd have been disappointed in the Beacon's staff if they hadn't."

"Weiss, do you really think that they'd-" Ruby said softly.

"And Ruby," Weiss cut her off too, "through explaining exactly what happened, has made the future that much more dangerous for the rest of you."

"What?" Ruby stepped towards them. "Weiss, they should know because something wrong happened. Hunters aren't supposed to trap people with the Grimm."

"First off, something like that happening is a very rare exception to how things are done."

"It shouldn't even be an exception. It should never happen anywhere!"

"Secondly, why do you think that Pyrrha, Yang, and I would not tell you what happened during our first investigations? Everyone who knows doesn't talk about it for a very good reason."

"Ruby, I agree with Weiss," Pyrrha said, before Ruby could respond, "This is something that happens and there are good reasons why these events should be kept a secret. The more you know, the more danger you will be in."

"They deserve to know what our Professors are doing." Ruby stepped closer again.

"Do you really think that-" Weiss sat up straight.

"Yes I do!"

"Don't interrupt me!"

"Girls, I-"

"Jaune, be quiet," Weiss snapped at him.

"Stop being mean!" Ruby shouted.

"I'm not being mean. He doesn't have anything useful to contribute."

"Weiss, that is fairly mean."

"You don't need to defend me, Pyrrha."

"You see, Pyrrha's on my side. What else can you call that?" Ruby was practically on top of them.

"Being honest." Weiss leaned closer to Ruby.

"I'm being honest! You want to keep everything a secret."

"Your honesty is going to hurt people!"

"They're all good, they couldn't be-"

"Don't worry Jaune, she didn't really mean to-"

"Pyrrha, it's alright she's just-"

"Good? What world do you think-"

"AHEM!" Ren coughed very loudly. The rest of the room quieted down.

Nora turned around and locked eyes with him. He must've read her mind. They needed something to defuse the situation before it got completely out of hand.

"Cookies?" He pulled a bag full cookies from one of his sleeves. "I picked them up this morning to celebrate team RWBY's return."

He was a lying liar! That was Nora's cookie stash that she'd hidden under his bed. All of her weights were under hers, so there wasn't any space for cookies.

She took a moment to look at Weiss and Ruby. Weiss was watching Ruby, but Ruby kept glancing at the cookies. They needed another push.

"Mine!" Nora sprang into action and lept for the bag. Ruby moved at the same time, lunging for it.

Ren lifted the bag up and let them smash their heads into each other.

"Ow!"

Nora giggled and rubbed her forehead. Weiss was still staring at Ruby, but Ruby was giggling and smiling. They'd probably be arguing about this again soon, but there weren't right now.

And that was enough for Nora.


	21. Chapter 4-2

Ruby leaned against the wall and rapidly tapped her fingers on her thighs in an incoherent beat, just like she'd been doing for the past few minutes. The beat didn't really mean anything, but it helped her stay focused. She needed to remember every phrase she'd thought up, every argument and counterargument. All of her verbal weapons needed to be sharpened and ready, just like when Weiss and Blake debated.

She had an idea, an incredible idea, an idea that might fix everything! It took her most of the previous day to work out and she still wasn't entirely sure of it, but it was the best one she had so far.

The only question was, could she convince Doctor Oobleck to let her use the lab unsupervised?

She'd need it for hours upon hours to get the new turbine components built. Hopefully it would get faster after the first few blades were finished and she found her rhythm. But she'd still probably wind up glowing by the end of it. Pushing her Aura into her work made it so much easier, but she couldn't exactly do that in the student machine shop without being asked all sorts of awkward questions.

But, his door was closed. And it had been closed for the past hour. She'd been checking every ten minutes or so just to be sure she didn't miss him.

Ruby couldn't do any more theory work without confirming that at least some of her thoughts were right. The student shop also didn't have all of the tools she needed. She could practically hear him lecturing her about machine safety; all while his tie dangled perilously close to the gears. They spent so much time replacing components after it actually got caught and his Aura tore them up by making the fabric nigh invulnerable. She still wasn't sure if he did that on purpose or not.

Actually... She could hear him, but he wasn't lecturing.

Ruby shifted a little bit to the side so she could listen better.

"... fortunate that nothing worse occurred," Doctor Oobleck spoke as quickly as he normally did, which made understanding him a little tricky thanks to all of the echoing.

"It was an absolute mess, Barty. One of the worst I've ever seen." Professor Port said, slurring slightly.

"I agree. Though, you have proved my own theory wrong. Well… mostly. We still have three strong candidates, four due to have to reconsider certain observations, and will need to plan different stage twos. Simpler stage twos. Stage twos which may be able to rely on the shock from this one to more easily accomplish their objective."

Ruby barely resisted gasping. She didn't even suspect that Doctor Oobleck also participated in these. It was like a surprise punch to the face. Bad, but not as bad when compared to the knife in the back that she'd already received.

"The level of complexity and lack of control was high enough that I would have judged the result in the tail end of appropriateness. It was more reminiscent of an old-style stage three than anything else. This will make all those aware of it, which is now all of the candidates, more apprehensive about future investigations. Obviously this result is something that we would not want to recreate or utilize as standard operating procedure, but it may be able to prove useful to the current scenario. There is one piece about it that's still puzzling to me though. Why?"

"Why what?

"Why were so many additional variables added? Seemingly without any justifiable reason."

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Weren't you the one who suggested the change?"

Ruby clenched her fists. If they were talking about what she thought they were, then it was probably her fault. When she saw him pulling Blake in, she jumped on the potential to go as well.

"Glynda and I planned out which pairs would apply the most pressure if they were placed together."

"Appropriate and within reasonable bounds."

"When it came time to actually call on Miss Schnee, the idea of expanding it further came to me. None of them knew what to expect. I didn't either in the end."

"You shouldn't despair too much. In some ways, you could say it was a success."

"For everything that mattered, it was a miserable failure. The people most emotionally affected were not those under investigation and the final trial was far too out of control. We almost lost one of our most promising students because I was too sure of myself, too sure of what she was and too sure of being able to predict the Grimm." Professor Port growled.

"They are rather unpredictable at the best of times."

"I had thought they would be more sadistic, draw the pain and fear out of her and gorge themselves on it. I hadn't counted on one of the others being that much more affected than she was. And now that poor girl..." Professor Prot slammed his fist onto something and caused a cascade of loose papers. Knowing Doctor Oobleck, they'd been precariously balanced on the edge of whatever was hit.

"We all make mistakes. We're just fortunate that she could recover from this one." All of Professor Oobleck's usual energy was missing. "I pray that the remainder are as painless as possible."

For a long time they didn't say anything else.

Ruby could picture the scene without any difficulty. She'd watched her dad and uncle talk like this often enough to know about the long silence, the fists clenched so hard they broke mugs, and the way it never really ended. Something that did this to the people running it could never be right.

"It's a heavy burden. Especially considering how fine the line was for this case," Doctor Oobleck whispered. "You can never be sure exactly what will affect someone or how they will respond."

Professor Port grunted.

"You acted within reason overall. All of the signs lined up for an Argint scenario. We have to be more sure with those than anything else."

"That is what I feared. It's been decades since he-"

"Is something the matter?"

Ruby yelped and opened her eyes. She raised her scroll in defense, but lowered it when she realized that Professor Ozpin was the person standing right next to her.

She took several quick breaths to calm her racing heart. If anyone was actually able to do something about all of her problems with the investigations it would be him. He was Vale's Chief Huntsman and must have signed off on something regarding Weiss' investigation.

"I… Ummm..." Ruby stammered. What could she say to convince him? "Yes... Yes! You see, there's…"

He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Ruby opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Then rolled her lips back and forth. "There's something wrong with how the investigation happened."

"Mmh," He made a noncommittal noise.

"No one should be hurt like that and there's no reason why it should be so secretive and… and there has to be a better way."

Ruby felt the pressure. She pushed against it with all of her might. _There's something wrong._

"Is that why you're waiting for Doctor Oobleck?"

"Yes! I mean… No, not really."

The world didn't move.

"What seems to be the trouble then?"

"He's been in there for a long time and I need to use his lab. But that's not really-"

"What would you need his lab for?"

Ruby paused for a moment, "I have a theory about the Dust furnace that I need to test, but I can't build the turbine blades in the student lab. The tools aren't precise enough and they can't handle the temperatures needed. If I'm right, we'll be able to burn much more evenly and prevent damage from the hot spots."

"Interesting. There's an old lab of mine that you can use, room six eleven in this building. The password is seven nine three zero."

"I-" Ruby blinked a couple of times. "Thank you, but-"

"I look forward to hearing about your results. That project has an incredible amount of potential for saving lives." He took a sip from his mug and strolled away.

Ruby stared at Professor Ozpin while he left. That was much easier than she thought it would be. Now she had a lab to work in and she could…

He'd never responded to any of her complaints about the investigations.

"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby shouted.

"Yes?"

"You didn't…" She paused. The moment had been lost. "Never mind… Thanks for letting me use your lab."

"You're very welcome." He nodded. "Have a nice day, Ruby."

Ruby sighed and looked back at Doctor Oobleck's door. Maybe she'd be able to get something useful done today.

* * *

For the next few days, Ruby threw herself into her research. She finished her new turbine blades early because Professor Ozpin's lab was as awesome as it was strange. It had all of the machines that Doctor Oobleck's lab did and was way more organized, which made it much easier to focus. Though that also make it a little harder to get inspired by random pieces that were lying around.

There was a variety of high-grade Dust and several tables which could be used without clearing them off. He even had some materials she'd never heard of before! They were all labeled by part number instead of easy to recognize names. Everything had its number and its place… so long as she was on the modern side of the room. The rest was very archaic.

He had a number of very finely made hand tools laid out on a long wooden table. Old oil paintings hung over the table in such a manner the portraits watched Ruby while she stood in front of it. They were paintings of Professor Ozpin's family.

Each featured an older man. She could trace the line of history as she went from him in his suit, to a Colorless Knight-Commander, to a Grey Period Aristocrat, and eventually all the way to a happy old farmer with a wind-swept beard. The resemblance was uncanny, kind of like how Uncle Qrow always said that Ruby looked just like her mom and she could see it in old pictures from her mom's time at Beacon.

Each of the men had a different style. But all, save the first, had one thing in common: the cane that Professor Ozpin wielded. Goosebumps ran down the back of her neck when she thought about how it might feel to fight with and what songs it might play. With so many wielders making themselves part of the weapon, it must be an incredible artifact. Ruby hoped that Crescent Rose could be like that really far in the future. But for now, she had to build her precious scythe up the hard way.

Despite the paintings making Ruby feel like all of Professor Ozpin's ancestors were watching her, she managed to get a lot of work done. Maybe the weight of history pushed her to succeed? That made as much sense as anything else she could think of. Everything just moved more smoothly. She had enough time that she even completed her redesign for Crescent Rose.

She'd been putting off some upgrades and now there was no excuse to ignore them. A heavier blade and shaft were first on the list. Once they were done, she could use more powerful rounds, without needing to worry about recoil throwing off her aim, and each strike would be that much more damaging. A few months ago, she wouldn't have been strong enough for such a change to make a difference, but now it would be a huge one.

It did mean she had to re-balance every other component's weight to make up for the new distribution, but it would be so worth it. Most of that could be accomplished with different Air Dust to steel ratios anyway. If Weiss let her buy it, she might even be able to gild the edge of the blade in Fire Dust infused Orichalcum. Oh, it would cut so well, but would also mean that the butt-spike needed to be heavier.

The work was long and solitary, but so much more satisfying than losing arguments. Ruby couldn't win against Weiss, not while looking at her in the hospital bed made Ruby want to tear her own heart out.

With Blake's help, she might've had a chance. But, Blake and Yang were doing their vanishing thing again. Ruby was the first one back to their room every evening and neither of her teammates returned before midnight.

Ruby half expected them to not show up for the trip to Vale. but in the end, they all made it to the air-bus on time. They even had it mostly to themselves, benefits of leaving in the middle of the day. However, no one really wanted to talk about anything on the ride. Blake had a new book, Weiss and Yang had their scrolls, and Ruby had her music. Ruby watched the clouds roll by instead of her teammates. _So much for coming together as a team._

No! She couldn't think like that. She was a team leader and needed to do… leadery things... to raise everyone's spirits. There just wasn't anything interesting to talk about while en route and the trip wasn't so long that a little silence really mattered.

They set down in a big square in the middle of one of the semi-expensive shopping districts. Ruby'd been there a couple of times before because it had a really good Dust shop and weapons facility.

As soon as they got off, she pulsed her Semblance to dash to the front of the group.

"Alright team! We have a day of fun coming right up! First on our agenda is-" Ruby cheered and turned around to see Weiss still messing with her scroll.

"Weiss." Ruby said deadpan.

"Hmm?" Her partner finished typing something and then held it out in front of her. She pressed the off button until the screen was blank.

"We're supposed to be- What're you doing?" Ruby quirked her head to the side.

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her, then looked at Blake and Yang.

"Oh." Yang pulled her scroll out next and turned it off.

A moment later, Ruby and Blake did as well.

"Why did you have us do that?" Blake put her scroll away.

"Because I don't know what sites any of you go to and there are viruses which can remotely activate microphones." Weiss moved to the front of the group, noticeably favoring one leg.

"And why would that be important?"

"I assume that Ruby has a number of questions that we don't want to risk having recorded." Weiss looked at Ruby, who blinked a couple of times.

"This was actually supposed to be a day where we could relax and have fun." Ruby giggled nervously. Why was Weiss willing to talk about that now? "But, I do have a couple of questions. Umm..."

"Exactly. We just need to find somewhere where we won't be overheard." Weiss turned to Blake and waited.

After a moment of staring at Weiss, Blake raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at me for?"

Weiss rolled her eyes and turned to Yang next.

Yang scowled and then sighed. "I know a few places."

"Okay, serious talk can come first I guess." Ruby chuckled. "Where're we headed?"

Yang licked her lips. "Well… We could hit up the White Panther, but…" She looked each of them up and down. They each had their regular combat clothes, except for Weiss; she had a heavier coat and skirt on instead. "We're going to need different outfits to get in."

Weiss and Yang both smirked and glanced at Ruby.

Ruby squinted at them. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed? It's nice, easy to move in, and comfortable. It even matches my hair and eyes! That's like ninety percent of what matters."

"Come on sis, you promised me you'd give it a shot." Yang threw her arm over Ruby's shoulders. "Just think about how nice you could look."

Ruby groaned. "Fine, but no ladystilts."

"That's the spirit." Yang slapped her on the back and started walking. "I know just the place to start."

"Start?" Ruby and Blake both asked. Yang grinned at them and continued her march forward.

* * *

The first store was very much not Ruby's type of place. It was full of tight dresses and heels and tiny purses that could barely hold a scroll, let alone a weapon. Weiss and Yang ran around, critiquing each other's choices, while Ruby and Blake sat on the sidelines.

The first one Yang stepped out in had a neckline so low that Ruby could practically hear their dad screaming about it. Also it had no back so...Nope!

 _Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope._ Ruby would never be caught dead wearing something like that and certainly did not want to see her sister dancing in it; especially because she had no idea how it was staying on.

"Too much?" Yang spun around slowly.

"Yang," Ruby asked, shivering slightly, "what sort of place are you bringing us to?"

"Oh you know, a club. Loud music, fog machines, lots of dancing. The type of place where you can grab one of the tables on the top floor and no one will bother you... As long as you keep buying drinks. Well that and glare off the people who want to hit on you."

"Uhh…" Ruby held a finger up, there was a major problem with part of that logic if they were going to be talking about serious stuff.

"Don't worry, we can order virgin drinks."

"Uhh!" Ruby got a little louder. That wasn't her primary complaint, but it was still a concern.

"It means that the drinks won't contain alcohol." Weiss came out of one of the changing rooms.

Her dress was more conservative, but would still be too much for Ruby. While her front was covered, as was her injured leg, the other side of the dress had a slit going really far up her thigh and it had just enough of a back to cover hey injury.

Weiss inspected Yang, who spun around again, and shook her head. "It shows off your legs and chest well, but it needs a jacket."

"I know, but nothing here has enough shoulder room." Yang moved her arm in a circle and walked around Weiss. "Also nice, but way too formal."

Weiss frowned and crossed her arms.

"It's a night club, princess. Not a ballroom."

"I thought that this would show off enough skin while covering the bandages."

"Ohh, good point. Hmm…" Yang wandered around the maze of racks for almost a minute. She came back with a short dress that was covered in tassels and a new pair of shoes.

"Will that be long enough?" Weiss tilted her head to the side.

"You're pretty short so... probably? Just don't do any high kicks." Yang held it up to Weiss' side, then over to Ruby's. "You know, this style would work pretty well for you too."

"Yang, that's white and silver." Ruby grumbled.

"I meant in red and black." Yang passed the dress to Weiss and turned toward that rack again. "I think they had one in the right size."

"I'll pass."

"Suit yourself."

They spent almost half an hour trying on more dresses. But in the end, none of them bought anything.

The second store was a bit closer to Ruby's taste. It was full of leather, unfortunately all of it was shiny and incredibly tight. Weiss joined Ruby on the bench and everything went much faster because Blake knew exactly what she wanted. It was all so far outside of what Weiss liked that she couldn't encourage Yang too much. So, Yang got herself a new skirt and shorts, Blake got her pants, and then they were done.

The third was Weiss and Yang's show again. This time it was shoes, just shoes. And almost all of them were heels of some sort!

The next few stores were all frilly things and accessories. Ruby was able to grab a couple of bracelets, so they weren't completely useless.

Then she and Blake sat through a long argument about whether Blake's bow was appropriate or if she should wear a hat instead.

"The bow won't get knocked off and it works, especially if she picks out something frillier for her top. It might not be her regular style, but ribbon sleeves look so good when you move with them right." Yang pointed at a shirt which had strips of fabric that could technically be called sleeves for the arms.

"There are plenty of hats that you can move with without accidentally knocking them off of your head." Weiss held her favored choice out. Ruby didn't know anything about hats, but it would probably look nice. "It would also give more of a dashing appearance, which would easily fit in with other clothing that she already has."

"Why not just not wear the bow if it causes so much trouble?" Ruby said, then shrank back into her seat when both of the glared at her.

Blake, for her part, hid behind her book and never commented.

It was back to clothing for the next set of shops. Weiss and Yang even picked out an item in each store; One piece, out of the who-knew-how-many they tried on. They were halfway through the day and no one had a complete outfit!

Ruby just nodded along whenever one of them asked for her opinion. They always picked out matching colors and it all fit, so it always looked good... Even if every third outfit had something that made her too embarrassed to look at them.

When they finally went somewhere that Ruby liked, she picked out what she wanted as quickly as she could. She'd been to this place before, it was actually one of her favorites. They carried the right colors and used the symbols she'd decided on too: guns, flowers, crosses, and swords. Though that did mean that there wasn't too much of a selection for the others.

She picked out a nice black dress with a rose on the side, a full corset, and two new packs of tights. It was all very simple and easy.

But, Weiss, Yang, and even Blake shoved bundles of clothes into her arms while she was on the way to the changing room.

At least they had the decency to grab complete outfits. There were four in total… She was pretty sure they each handed her one so that didn't exactly add up, but whatever.

The first one was really good! A dark red dress, which had a combat skirt and no sleeves, and a leather jacket. She might've grabbed that herself.

When she stepped out in it, Yang gave her a thumbs up. "That'd be good."

Blake and Weiss both nodded as well.

The second was a little out there. It had a poofy shirt, velvet tights, a bright red sash, a high collared cape… And plastic Beowolf fangs.

Ruby stuck her head out of the door, saw Yang grinning, and threw the fangs at her sister. They smacked her in the cheek.

"Hey, these weren't my idea!" Yang tossed them back, but Ruby caught them.

"Who else would try to dress me like the villain of a bodice ripper?" Ruby glanced at her other teammates and noticed the corners of Blake's mouth slowly creeping up.

"It felt appropriate." Blake hid her smile with her book. Ruby glowered and shook her head.

"How do _you_ know what those are?" Weiss looked from Ruby, to Blake, and back to Ruby. "What books have you two been sharing?"

"I-I… Umm… Nothing..." Ruby slunk back into the changing room and slowly closed the door.

"Wait. You read what now?" Yang called out. Ruby did not answer her.

The third outfit, a tank top with a rose trailing down the center and cargo pants, was pretty good too. The bullet pendant was what really made it work though. Now that she thought about it, these were probably Yang's. They were different enough from what she normally wore to be interesting, but still were comfortable.

Weiss raised an eyebrow when she came out, but didn't say anything.

"Yang, would these really work for your club? I mean, I like them, but..."

"Nah, probably not." Yang waved a hand back and forth. "But you needed some more variety and I was pretty sure someone else would come up with something good for clubbing."

"Thanks."

"Now about those books." Yang had an evil grin on her face.

"What books? I know nothing. La la-la la la." Ruby hustled back into the changing room.

The last bundle seemed to be just a black half coat and tight leather pants, which was definitely a no. But when Ruby picked it up, something metal fell out. She could feel the blood rising to her cheeks when she looked at the offending piece of clothing.

Ruby moved for the door almost immediately, but stopped herself right before she knocked it open. If she just yelled at them, she'd never find out who did it. She needed to do something else, something to make one of them react differently…

She slammed the door open. "Who? What? Why?"

Ruby waved the spiky, metal bikini top at them. "Which of you put this in the pile?"

All three of them held completely still. Ruby looked at them one by one, trying to figure out who it could be. None of them were twitching even a little bit.

Ruby took a deep breath and immediately shifted over to the brightest smile that she could give them. "I love it!"

"Uhhh…" Yang gaped.

Blake gave her the normal Blake knows you're lying look.

Weiss responded with a withering glare. "Seriously? You complain all day about the amount of skin the Yang and I were showing and now you like this?"

"Ha! Got you!" Ruby pointed at Weiss with her free hand and grinned.

Weiss regarded her for a moment. "Well played."

Ruby covered her mouth, but wasn't able to contain her giggles. She let the bikini fall to the floor so she could wipe her eyes. "Weiss… Hehehe… Your face… You actually believed that I…"

Weiss shook her head, but ended with a smile.

"Why did you give me that though?"

"I thought your reaction would be amusing."

Ruby froze for a moment, then sighed. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"Yep. You're incredibly easy to tease." Yang picked the top up, gave Weiss and Blake a sidelong glance each, and held it out for Ruby. "So are you going to…"

"No!" Ruby dashed away from them.

"Heh." Yang laughed. "Never change, little sister."

Ruby wound up getting all three of the good outfits, at Weiss and Yang's expense because she really just wanted the first one. Blake picked up a plain white shirt as well.

On the way out, they stopped to look at one of the nice coat racks. Or rather, Ruby walked into Blake when she stopped.

"Ohh, that's a good one. Really pricey though." Ruby checked the tag. Yep, it was way too much. Though the coat was beautiful, black silk with a red inner layer.

"Do you want it sis?"

For a moment she considered it. On one hand, it did look really cool. On the other, Blake was eyeing her the entire time that she spent thinking and not in a funny way.

"Nope, it'd get in the way of my cape." Ruby shook her head. "I think it'd look pretty good on Blake with a different lining though."

"NO!" Blake shouted, then covered her mouth with her hands. Her bow also bounced, ending with its points as high as Ruby'd ever seen them.

"Uhh, Blake?" Ruby carefully raised a hand. "Are you okay?"

Blake gulped and took a long breath. "I'm fine, I just… I just need some fresh air."

Ruby carefully watched her, as did Weiss and Yang. Ruby looked at the two of them, then back to Blake.

"That's alright, I'm all set too so… There's a nice Dust shop that we can go to."

"I… I really don't want to look at Dust or weapons, Ruby."

"Oh…" Ruby sagged slightly. "How about a book store? There's a good one nearby."

"That would be nice."

"Okay." Ruby turned back to Weiss and Yang.

"Dinner at A Simple Wok?" Yang asked.

"Yeah." Ruby pulled out her scroll to check the time, but it was still off. She scoured the store for a clock, eventually spotting the cashier's scroll. "Meet there at seven? Assuming you two can finish in an hour."

"I think we can handle that." Weiss nodded to Yang.

"See you then." Ruby held the door open and waited for Blake to follow.


	22. Chapter 4-3

"So, are you ok?" Ruby matched Blake's pace while they walked.

"I'm fine. That coat... just reminded me of someone from my past." Blake walked with her arms crossed, bags dangling from one elbow.

"Not a good someone?"

"No, no he wasn't."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I just..." Blake sighed wistfully rather than finishing the thought.

"Blake, we're your friends. I don't want you to feel bad. So if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here." Ruby reached up to pat Blake on the shoulder, but hesitated. Blake had always been touchy regarding physical contact and now was not a good time to push it.

"Thank you."

They walked without talking for a while. Ruby caught Blake glancing at her over and over, then biting her lip and looking away. Even though the pressure was there; Ruby didn't know which way she wanted to push it. She'd been running into a wall more and more often with Blake, so whether or not she was capable of succeeding at moving the world was in question.

Ruby also didn't know if she really wanted to. Blake was hiding something from them, something that seemed incredibly painful and personal. Was it something that should be pried into? It didn't sound like it would be dangerous to the team, so it wasn't pressing. If it wasn't a risk like that, was there a good reason to push Blake for an answer? The best one that Ruby could think of was that sharing things let you work through them and feel better.

But, Ruby honestly didn't know if she could help. She wasn't exactly overflowing with experience regarding relationships gone bad, no matter what type they were. All she had to go on were stories books, her dad breaking down, and Yang's behavior at Signal… Beacon as well come to think of it.

Fantasy books were books, not something she could rely on. Given Blake's reaction, it probably wasn't like what happened to dad when mom died. Yang had gotten through _those_ problems by going out with someone else who made her happy. She was pretty sure that was how her Uncle Qrow handled things too. Well, that and whiskey, which probably wouldn't be a good idea even if they were older.

Ruby briefly met Blake's eyes and smiled. Plan Yang could work… If only she knew what Blake was looking for. Maybe her favorite stories were the answer?

They almost all had an intense, yet broody, love interest who was tall, dark, and handsome. It was kind of a cliché, but still really popular. If that was what she liked, then there were a couple of problems. Ren was probably the closest the Ruby could think of. He didn't really fit the mold though. Yang and Weiss were closer than the rest of team JNPR, but they didn't match either. Unless...

After a moment of staring at Blake's clothes, and thinking about how none of the main characters were all that similar to each other, Ruby had another idea.

Maybe Blake wanted to be the mysterious stranger? She had the looks and the brooding down pat. That would make everything both easier and harder to figure out. On one hand, there were suddenly tons of options. On the other, that role relied on Blake actively going for someone and Ruby couldn't really see her doing that.

Ruby resisted the urge to groan. Relationships were so complicated. Why couldn't they be easy, like figuring out what materials worked well for a given weapon?

She also hadn't figured out an answer for her main question. Should she try to force the issue?

"His name was Adam." Blake said very softly as the pressure vanished.

Ruby nodded and stepped a bit closer. That also worked.

"He was passionate, skilled, driven, and fairly attractive. Basically, everything a girl could hope for. He took… took a group that I hung out with... and helped us do more than we'd ever done before. Under his leadership, we were more than just… activists who wanted to make the world safer." Blake was leaving something important off, but Ruby could always ask her when she was more comfortable and not in public.

"He said that he wanted justice and that he knew the way to get it. And for a long time, I believed him." Blake wrung her hands over and over. "I thought that I loved him. Why wouldn't I? It would be ridiculous to not considering who he was and how he'd saved my life... several times... But, I only loved the idea of him. The one that I'd built up in my head."

Ruby gulped and ran her thumb back and forth over her bag's handles. She'd read enough to guess where this was going.

"For a long time, that was enough. I was happy following the hero I thought he was. Eventually... It all came crashing down and I couldn't deny the truth anymore. Adam was passionate and driven, but he didn't want justice. He wanted vengeance. He wanted to use his skills to hurt people because he could. And he wanted me to help him do it…"

"Blake…" Ruby reached for her after a moment of hesitation. When she laid her hand on Blake's shoulder, she flinched, but didn't run away. "It's alright, you're not there anymore. You're with us now and we'd never ask you to do anything like that."

Blake kept her eyes on the ground.

"And if he ever comes back, we'll make sure to keep you safe." Ruby paused for a moment and considered what that could sound like, considering what Blake just told her. "Umm, assuming you want us to. I mean, if you really wanted to go we wouldn't force you to stay and-"

Blake wrapped her arms around Ruby. "Thank you."

Ruby squeezed her tightly and let go as soon as Blake pulled back. "That's what friends are for."

"Yeah..." Blake wiped the corners of her eyes. "Let's go look at those books."

Ruby giggled and pointed above them. "We've actually been right outside of the store for a little while."

Blake laughed and looked up. The laugh caught in her throat when she saw the Tukson's Book Trade sign. "I-I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why? The owner seems like a really good guy."

Blake cringed slightly.

"Wait, does he know Adam?"

Blake nodded.

"Oh, umm, well... We can go somewhere else then! Somewhere else that isn't related to Dust or weapons. Which is a thing that I definitely know about! Umm… This way." Ruby turned around and started walking. Blake didn't follow her.

"Blake?" Ruby turned around to find Blake staring at another group of people. Four very fit Faunus were walking down the other side of the street. Each of them had a machete on their belts, though that wasn't what caught Ruby's eye first.

The guy in front's left arm was covered by a very intricate tattoo. The ink was a swirling red and black pattern, bounded by silver. It stretched all the way down to his fingers and gave the impression of claws. He pointed from one building to another while the others nodded along. Kind of a like a tour guide, a really gruff tour guide.

"Food." The first was a cafe which had several Faunus sitting outside of it.

"Clothes." The second was a tailor.

"Next week's spots: one, two, three." That sounded very ominous to Ruby, especially because none of the stores had any similarities.

"And last, but not least, weapons." He pointed to the bookstore and started turning towards them.

"That makes no se-"

Ruby was cut off by Blake grabbing her around the waist and dashing into the store. A bell rang as she was carried in. Blake left the door open.

"Be right there!" A deep voice call out from the back of the store.

"Blake, what wa-?"

"Ruby." Blake's voice had more of an edge than Ruby had ever heard before. "Don't ask any questions until we leave."

Blake stepped to the side of the door as she closed it, keeping out of sight of the Faunus group. She also flipped the 'Open' sign to 'Closed'. After a moment of looking around, she slid a switch down, making the windows dim until they were completely opaque.

Ruby reached for the small of her back, where Crescent Rose would normally have been.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade!" The owner, a tall cat Faunus, spun out of the back with a huge box.

"Home to every book under the- sun." His voice cracked like a teenage boy's. At the same time, he flinched and tightened his grip, punching holes in the bottom of the box with his claws.

"Tukson." Blake stalked forward, tapping the flat of her blade against her thigh.

Ruby did a double take to confirm that Blake had in fact drawn Gambol Shroud on an unarmed civilian.

"B-Belladonna." He moved to put the box down.

Blake switched to gun mode and leveled it at him. "Keep your hands above the counter."

He nodded and very carefully placed it down, then raised his hands up, palms facing them. Tukson glanced to Ruby a couple of times, his eyes screaming 'Help!'

Ruby gulped. Why was this happening? Was this what robbing someone felt like? It didn't feel right at all. They were supposed to protect people not terrify them!

She glanced at Blake. Her entire body was tense, but she kept her finger off of trigger. How bad was Adam if she was reacting like this? For that matter, what was she used to if she thought acting like this was okay? Sure they fought each other a lot at Beacon and being shot accidentally, or knocked through a wall, just sort of happened there, but they weren't at Beacon right now.

And... And Tukson probably didn't have his Aura unlocked so... That meant that Blake was actually threatening his life.

"Is anyone else here right now?" Blake continued towards him.

"No, no." He shook his head wildly. "I won't tell anyone you were here. I'm getting out too."

"You are?" A lot of the tension in Blake's voice vanished.

"Yes." He nodded very quickly.

Blake lowered the gun. Since she didn't react, Ruby assumed he was being honest.

He took a deep breath and leaned against the counter. "You, uhhh… You've still got it… Umm… There's some stuff you should know. Is she?"

He gestured in Ruby's direction. Blake shook her head. "No, she's not connected."

After a moment, he nodded to the door he'd just come out of. "We can talk in the back."

"Let's." Blake moved towards it and nodded. Only then did he move to open it.

Ruby pulsed her Semblance and stepped between them. "Blake! What is this? Why did you draw on him? What's going on?"

Blake flinched back and looked past Ruby's head. "Don't worry about it, Ruby. It won't concern you, I promise."

"I think it already concerns me. You're waving a weapon around and threatening someone like… like some sort of criminal! That's not what Huntresses do!"

Blake winced and turned away from her. "I promise, I'll answer your questions later. After I talk to Tukson."

Ruby grit her teeth and considered what to do. The pressure was there again. She could slam into it as hard as possible, but this seemed like the type of choice where even her best wouldn't be enough.

Instead of trying, she stepped out of the way.

"Thank you." Blake whispered as she passed.

They disappeared into the back of the store, closing the door behind them.

A few moments later, Ruby tip toed up to the edge of it and listened as hard as she could. Her instincts had be utterly and completely wrong. Whoever Adam was, he wasn't just a bad ex and Blake's 'group of activists' must have done something actually wrong with him. This was a secret that she needed to know.

And all of her experience with secrets this semester taught her that the _later_ in 'I'll tell you later' meant _never_.

* * *

Yang and Weiss left the store in the opposite direction as Ruby and Blake. Going that way wasn't the quickest route to their next stop, but it would get them out of earshot much sooner. As they walked, Yang rolled the handles of her bags between her fingers, squeezing them hard enough that she could feel the cloth tearing.

She took advantage of her height, and Weiss' injury, by making her stride a bit longer than normal. It made her just fast enough that it would be a hard for Weiss to keep pace while walking, but not quite fast enough for a speed walk or jog to not be awkward.

Was it petty? Yes. But, she had been enjoying herself while they got lost in shopping. When they were doing that, she could forget about everything that made her worry. She could tease her sister and had a shopping buddy in Weiss, who knew what she was talking about. It also let her try and figure out what had changed about Weiss over the course of the past week.

Weiss was not a threat before the investigation. And yet, when Yang took a look at her again, she was. Somehow she was much more dangerous while almost fatally injured than she was beforehand. It didn't make any sense.

That was part of why her headache was back. And she needed to figure out the best way to relieve it, before they met up with Ruby again. She couldn't actually be happy with her temples pounding or even pretend to be fine for Ruby's sake. A few days ago it wouldn't have been a problem, Blake's commands would have helped her stay in control even when she could barely think. But, they'd spent the past few days getting rid of all of them.

"Yang, slow down." Weiss' heels clicked out of pace as she almost skipped to keep up. "Why are you walking so fast?"

Yang glanced over her shoulder on the opposite side as Weiss. Ruby and Blake had just crossed the street. Yang sighed internally when they were no longer in sight.

"Are you listening to me? I can't keep up with you-" Weiss grabbed her jacket and pulled Yang to a stop.

"What the hell was that?" Yang knocked Weiss' hand away as she turned towards her.

"What do you mean?"

"You." She poked Weiss in the chest, a little harder than necessary. "Giving my little sister something completely inappropriate."

Weiss blinked at her once before responding. "It was a joke! I thought it would be amusing. Besides, you've been trying to get her into something like that all day."

"First off, no I haven't. I've been giving her things a little bit outside of her comfort zone. And secondly, it wasn't funny."

"You tried to get her to actually wear it and then laughed at her reaction."

"I did that so it would be less awkward for her."

"That made it much more awkward."

"No, it didn't! I made it safe!"

Weiss crossed her arms and glared at Yang.

"I'm her sister, the person who pushes her to do things she hasn't done before. It also means that I don't have any ulterior motives for suggesting it."

"What other motive do you think I had?"

"I don't know." Yang threw her arms into the air. "You're single-handedly the most manipulative person I've ever met. For all I know you want to turn her into some pet who will let you do whatever you want to her."

Weiss looked somewhere between disgusted and appalled.

 _Yang matched the glare and thought about how much fun fighting would be. Verbal sparring wasn't normally her idea of a good time, but it could work. Accusations and insults would fly like bullets. In the end, they could actually connect with each other._

Weiss grit her teeth, but there was a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there before. It was the same look she had when she and Blake debated something serious. "Do you really want to do this right now?"

Yang savagely grinned.

"I thought you were better than this." Weiss said, voice dripping with derision.

"What?" Yang was expecting something nasty, but that was not it.

"You sanctimoniously rant to me about what you think my intentions, regarding your sister, are and you haven't even called her by name. She's simply _your_ sister. Some _thing_ for you to decide what is and is not appropriate for."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Yang growled through clenched teeth.

"Really? Because that's all I can hear. An older sibling who's so used to being in control that she can't accept that someone might know more about her sister's level of comfort than she does."

"That's…" Yang dug her nails into her palms. "That's not, you're-"

"There is one other potential option. However, jealousy is very unbecoming."

"I'm not jealous." Yang crossed her arms and glared.

 _Don't lie to yourself._

"Really?" Weiss covered her mouth with a hand and laughed. " _What would your family think of you trying to scare anyone interested in Ruby away in a fit of jealousy?"_

 _Yang blinked and saw her father-_ The vision shattered as the blood pounded in her head. "I'm not jealous! I'm trying to protect my innocent, little sister from… from…"

"From what? What are you so worried about? Someone who's close to her hurting her?" Even though Weiss had stopped talking, Yang could clearly hear another question. ' _Do you know how much you're hurting her?'_

 _You wish you could be in her place._

"Shut. Up."

"Considering her choice of books, I'd say she's already more interested in the topic than you knew about. And need I remind you, your first reaction was about what motives _I_ had." Weiss looked her dead in the eyes and shook her head. Another soundless question was asked. ' _Why are you pushing her away like this?'_

"I'm not… I don't"

"How many people have you taken out this week? Weren't they enough for you? Ruby's been working herself to the bone, trying to deny the truth." ' _She's needed your support all week.'_ "Have you seen her at all? Do you have any idea how much it hurts for your family to abandon you-"

Yang's arm moved before she could think about it. She stepped forward and slammed her fist into Weiss' face. She forced her Aura into the blow, warping the air as her fist flew forward, and blasted Weiss into an alley. A dumpster rang like a bell as she crashed into it. Weiss slid to the ground, landing on shaky legs, and held a hand to her face.

Someone behind Yang gasped and stepped away. She spun around, one arm guarding her torso. A young man was staring at her and shaking. He stepped backwards, fell to the ground, then scrambled to his feet and ran away.

Weiss shook her head back and forth several times, then stood up. Her Aura took the entire blow, leaving her face and clothing unblemished. However, the ice cold facade was broken; Weiss' left hand hovered near her waist. She touched the pommel of her sword with her palm. Her fingers tensed around the handle.

"While I may have deserved that," Weiss muttered under her breath before shouting, "What are you th-"

Weiss's eyes widened for a fraction of a second as Yang stared into her soul again. Weiss was still a threat. Yang didn't know why or how, but she was. And if she wanted to go at it right now, Yang was happy to oblige.

After several moments of staring, Weiss moved her hand away from her sword.

Yang marched toward her, throwing the bags to the side as she entered the alley.

Weiss walked forward to meet her. As she closed, she adjusted her stride and stepped in to return the punch with as much force as she could.

The strike was fast, shockingly fast and precise for someone injured. Yang got caught in the cheek at the same time she touched Weiss' arm to block. But, for all that Weiss had speed, she had no real power.

Yang blocked Weiss' followup hard, spinning her to the side with the force, and grabbed the collar of her coat. She lifted the tiny girl until they were at eye level with each other. "Do NOT tell me I don't know what it feels like to be abandoned! You have no idea what Ruby or I have been through."

"And you think acting like this is going to help her?"

"Of course I don't! That's why she isn't here!" Yang let go of Weiss and punched the wall next to them. The bricks cracked, but stayed in place.

"Then why do it in the first place?"

"Because. I. Want. To." Yang leaned closer and closer with each word. "Because holding back in front of her is hard. Because something about how you've been talking gives me such a headache that it makes me want to tear my hair out!"

Weiss responded with a glare. Yang met it and stared into her soul again. Weiss was still a threat, Yang didn't know why or how, but she was.

"What you just did before I hit you." Yang snapped her fingers. "That's what I was talking about. You distracted me with the jealousy comment and I just realized how easily you did it. You're not a good person Weiss."

"I'm better than someone who responds to being confused with their fists."

"I'm not a good either, never said I was. None of us are, except for Ruby. That's why I'm not going to let you, or anyone else, hurt her!"

"Yang, this is insane. I'm not going to hurt Ruby."

"Then what were you doing in the store?"

"I thought it would be funny."

 _You know what you want to do._

"Liar!"

"I thought that it would help her grow as a person."

 _Call upon the power and take it._

"Bull!"

"That's all I was thinking about!" Weiss grabbed Yang's hand and tried to pry her fingers open. ' _Stop making a scene!'_

Yang snarled and lifted Weiss off of her feet. Even though her struggling grew stronger, she was far too weak to save herself. Each buck and twist was countered by an iron grip, but that wouldn't be enough. Yang needed to do something else. Something that would make Weiss answer her questions honestly.

Weiss was too slippery for anything that Yang could come up with.

She stopped fighting the memories. Empress Tialeth was one of the most terrifying and persuasive people that Yang could think of.

 _She slammed the courtier into the wall, the knuckles of her gauntlet digging into his throat. The slight man kicked at her chest, to no avail. The ivory hair flowed as if it were constantly being swept by a gentle breeze and the mist that fell from his breath, even in the blistering heat, betrayed the boy's heritage now that they were revealed._

 _He had hidden his breeding well while he was infiltrating her court._

Yang slammed Weiss to the side and held her up against the wall. The girl tried to dig her nails into Yang's hands.

 _She drew the tip of her blade against the wall. It hissed and sparked as the Jade parted for the razor edge. She stopped just before it hit his side._

Yang reached up with her other hand and laid it on Weiss' side, right below her worst wound.

" _Your manipulations have caused my people more pain than I could have ever imagined."_

"I'm going to give you one, last chance to tell me what I want to know." Yang raised her head and tilted it to the side slightly. Her hair fell over her face, slightly obscuring eyes that she was sure were glowing red. After a moment she leaned back, looking down her nose to stare at Weiss.

" _You will tell me why you have ensnared my children-_

"Or I will personally eviscerate you." Yang released her grip and watched Weiss crumple to the ground.

 _She threw the boy to the ground and glared at him._

Weiss trembled and pushed herself back up to her feet. Yang's vision faded as she stumbled forward.

 _The tip of her sword sliced the boy's robes open. He gasped and grabbed hold of his midsection. The very end of her blade nicked him and had drawn a thin line of blood._

 _He broke, sputtering and babbling about justice. Answers that were as useful as they were true. Love and justice were free in her lands, so long as the one seeking them had the strength of character to bring matters forward._

 _She leaned closer and laid a hand on the side of his face._

" _Now now," She said with a much softer tone, "You're young, not even fifty. You could have a grand life ahead of you."_

 _He nodded, trembling as her fingers curled in his hair. She tightened them enough to make him wince._

" _This scheme could not have been your idea. My question is very simple. Who is your master and why they would want my sons and daughters to turn against me? Which of my enemies do you serve?"_

 _The boy clenched his eyes closed and shivered._

" _I'd never-"_

" _What was that? Tell me who you serve." Her voice reverberated with Essence, empowering her command. His eyes went wide, pupils dilating as her words etched themselves into his consciousness. If he would not answer her willingly, then she would need to force him to._

 _The boy screamed and poured more Essence into his anima. A burst of razor sharp winds erupted from his body, scouring the stone around him. The winds were as dangerous to her as a gentle breeze._

" _I will never help one of you." He shouted and forced the winds to grow stronger. They ripped and tore at his clothing and skin. With every passing moment more and more of his form was shredded and discorporated into raw Essence._

 _Tialeth swung her sword at the wall he had been on, slicing through the stone and into the room beyond. She glared at the space the boy once occupied. She had seen that trick once before. The boy was not only a skilled spy, he had also been a sorcerer. His spell denied them any ability to interrogate him further._

 _She would need to have all of her senior officials checked for any lingering magics that he might have used on them, starting with the sorcerers who would be checking themselves of course._

 _This was not what she needed in the week leading up to Calibration. The checks would not be finished by the time she had to leave for the great feast. Five days may not be a long time for her to be gone, but if someone in a pivotal role was overlooked, it could be disastrous._


	23. Chapter 4-4

Weiss lifted herself over the edge of the dumpster with a groan. The day had begun well, but now it was officially trying her patience.

Apparently, 'Why are you freaking out?' also merited a punch to the face. Or perhaps the reason was her hidden 'Stop before you give yourself away!' Either way, it was a punch which shot her to the other end of the alley and into a completely different dumpster than the first one. Which, of course, was followed by the lid slamming down on her and Yang running out of the alley in a mad panic.

Whatever happened to Yang while Weiss had been held against the wall had completely changed Yang's speech patterns and body language. It was as if she were a completely different person. While Weiss had heard of a few Semblances which would cause such an effect, she was certain that Yang didn't have one.

If she somehow did, then it was a second Semblance; which would confirm that somehow three, if not four, Anathema had all been assigned to the same team at Beacon. Such a story would be a perfect farce if it weren't making her life so difficult!

Weiss took a deep breath. She needed to remain calm. All of that added up to a small problem that had the potential to become a much larger one, very quickly. But, the scenario was still manageable because that potential had not yet been met.

If there was anything to be thankful for, it was that Yang had waited for both Blake and Ruby to leave before acting in such a manner. Although, Blake's skills and weapon would have been very useful if Yang needed to be restrained.

Weiss refocused her mind on matters at hand as she neared the other end of the alley. A mixed crowd was already milling about and gawking.

She marched up to them with her blade drawn and pointed her off-hand at the nearest distinct group. "You there, where did the blond girl I was arguing with go?"

A Faunus man, bear by his ears, shouted. "You mean the psycho racist?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. This was off to a truly wonderful start. "What did she do?"

"She knocked me down, called me a clumsy beast, and demanded that I bring her to 'the god of the city', whatever that is. " He gestured wildly, but not in a useful direction.

Weiss gave him a level stare and motioned for him to continue.

"I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. Then she called me worthless and jumped up there." He pointed to a tall apartment building across the street. "Never even offered to help me up, stupid-"

"Thank you." Weiss cut the man's insult off with a wave of her hand. If Yang has jumped all the way to the top of the building, then she had already escalated to an enormous problem. Most elite Hunters wouldn't be able to do that in a single bound! She could only hope that no one present knew that. "Don't worry, I'll handle it from here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" A man standing next to the Faunus asked. "I mean, she already hit you twice and-"

"Neither of those seriously affected me and I was responsible for provoking her."

"That's not a very healthy way to look at a relationship." He hesitated, unable to meet Weiss' eyes. "Look, I've been there before, you're not responsible for anything she does and shouldn't chase after her. Especially since she seems… umm… angry and delusional?"

"We're not involved." Weiss said plainly as she pushed past him. "She's a friend and a teammate who has had a very difficult week. I need to make sure she doesn't do something even more idiotic."

Weiss conjured a glyph that would bring her over the crowd and another in front of her mouth as she stepped onto it. _She forced her Aura into her words, ensuring that she spoke loudly enough for all of them to hear her. The sound of her voice bounced off of the walls in the exact manner for it to carry to them, then dissipate before it went too far._ "Citizens of Vale, don't worry. I have this under control. Please go about your business in peace."

She pointed Myrtenaster towards the building and channeled Air Dust into the glyph. A moment later, she fired herself up. While she could have done it in one burst, she conjured a second glyph to boost herself for appearance's sake.

As she flew, she heard one shocked statement from the crowd, "Holy shit, was she a Schnee?"

Weiss flipped over the railing and landed several steps behind Yang with a wince, her movement had pulled against her belly the wrong way. Weiss kept her sword in her hand while she watched her teammate. Everything about the way she was standing was wrong. It was nothing like the girl that Weiss knew.

Yang stared out at the city with the appearance of someone inspecting their lands. It was the assuredness and confidence that Weiss had only seen in senior members of the SDC who were looking over their departments. Her hair whipped in the wind enough to obscure her expression, but she had squeezed dents into the wooden railings.

She turned to the side and took Weiss' measure with eyes far older than any the heiress had seen before. If her body language was off-putting, Yang's gaze was even worse. That expression belonged on someone whose hair had turned white from age, not a teenage girl.

As she turned, Yang shifted her weight slightly so that her stance was in line with Weiss'. She glanced at Myrtenaster at the same time, then spoke just loudly enough to be heard over the wind. "Do you intend to use that?"

"It is my hope that I will not have to." Weiss was fairly certain that she would not be able to beat Yang if she was at her best, but if she needed to, she would try.

"Admirable." Yang smiled at her. "Especially for one so young."

"You're very kind." Weiss sheathed her sword and curtsied. Considering Yang's current bearing, Weiss would be embarrassed by displaying anything less than proper politeness. "You are, much calmer than you had been a short while ago."

"Calm is not the word that I would use. When I saw the streets and the sky, I realized what must have happened to me. Though, my current form should have made that obvious. What has happened to the land and its people is still a mystery." She shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

"The stars are all wrong and the moon has been fractured. A miasma falls over the city and strangles its citizens."

Weiss glanced to the sky, it was at a half-shatter tonight. That answer still had not helped her understand exactly what was wrong. She bowed her head before speaking. "I have a number of questions, if you will allow me to ask them."

Yang inclined her head slightly and smiled.

Weiss met her gaze. "Who are you?" She wove her real question into the words now that her Aura had recovered enough to be safe. 'You are obviously not Yang Xiao Long.'

"I am not and I am most likely a memory not yet cleansed from my Exaltation." Yang's smiled faded. "This is neither my body nor my soul. I can remember fragments of my own life, along with many people whom I have never met, such as yourself. These coincide with events that should be impossible if the land were properly governed."

Weiss nodded. Some form of possession made the most sense so far. "Your name?"

"Tialeth, Grand Champion of the Shining Colosseum of the Dawn's Light." She said with an air of importance that would put the relatives that Weiss preferred to not speak with to shame.

"I have not heard of you before."

"I suspected as much." She grimaced. "If revolting cities such as this are commonplace, then all that I had known must be lost."

"The city may not be the Northern Heights, but I would hardly call it revolting."

"You can look upon such a state and not feel disgusted? Are you so used to the grim that it has become natural to you?" Tialeth squeezed the railing hard enough for the wood to crack. "The people mill about without direction, humans and altered mortals alike. They wallow in filth and don't even bother to clean themselves before walking the streets. Streets which seem to have been built in a haphazard manner which all but ensures improper geomancy."

While Weiss couldn't disagree with her assessment of the common citizen's bathing habits, it seemed a bit hyperbolic. Yes, this part of the city has a distinctive smell which the air near Beacon lacked, but that was true of every city and most towns.

"The gods in charge should be torn from their offices and thrown into the streets for allowing this city to decay to such a state." She flicked slivers of wood from between her fingers. "But, given the reactions of the populous, I would not be surprised if their offices have been vacant for decades. None of those who I spoke to knew the name of either the god of the city or the Solar in charge of the land. To be so ignorant is a disgrace on them as well as their ruler for permitting it. I would not be surprised if they, or even you yourself, have a soul as blighted as this girl's." _She spread her arms as she spoke, as if daring Weiss to defy her._

Weiss could barely resist nodding along, even though very few of the statements had any bearing on reality. Tialeth was constantly referring to concepts that Weiss doubted she had the proper context to understand. At least, she'd never heard of gods working in something as mundane as an office, outside of fiction. The very notion sounded ridiculous. Then again, everything Tialeth said seemed to make sense, even the portion about her and Yang's souls. In fact, it made too much sense for the words used.

After glancing at the door leading up to the roof, and confirming that it was closed, Weiss whispered, "Are you using your Aura to enhance your speech?"

"My what?"

"Your Aura, the light of your soul."

"You mean my Essence?"

Weiss frowned. "I suspect that this is a conversation which will repeat itself many times, but most likely, yes."

"Of course I am, despite how distasteful this Essence is."

"Please stop, before you begin glowing." Weiss lowered her head slightly.

"Why? Are you afraid of your clothing being bleached?"

"No." Weiss shook her head and cringed. "If you display your icon or start glowing, then Yang will be killed."

"Who would dare?" The air rippled around her as she spoke. She clenched her hands and the tips of her hair ignited.

"Everyone. Literally, everyone else in the world. Please stop whatever you're doing, right now, so that I can explain."

Tialeth leaned against the railing and met Weiss' eyes. The flames had not died down.

"Those who have such powers are known as Anathema. They are hunted down and killed to protect the world from their power." Weiss laced her statement with her Aura. ' _We cannot fight against that many people.'_

"You ask me to disarm myself while you still wield your own knives."

Weiss leaned forward more, almost bowing her head, and clenched her teeth. She needed to tread carefully. "I apologize. I thought that it would be the best way to explain very sensitive information. Information that I do not want to have overheard."

"A pity. You are far more cowardly than I had thought." She laid a hand on Weiss' cheek and lifted her chin until their eyes met. "You are Chosen, one of the Exalted. Mortals should be serving and worshiping you. Even one as young as yourself should be leading thousands of mortals to enact her wishes upon the world."

Weiss almost bit her tongue, thoughts like those were why the Anathema were hunted. It was why she had been so careful with her manipulations of the SDC. Suddenly appearing in a leadership position was the second most frequent method by which the Anathema were found.

"Why have you not simply taken over the organization that would kill you?"

"That would take time and I cannot fight the thousands of people that would inevitably notice."

"Your forebearers did. They felled armies of demons by the millions, when they wrested control of Creation from its creators."

"What?"

"Do you know nothing of history? Has that much knowledge truly been lost?"

"You fought million-man armies by yourself?"

"I did not. I took my Second Breath long after the war had been won. But the warriors of my time were known to fight tens of thousands of the Fair Folk at a time. Typically for sport or recreation." She said offhandedly, as if she were describing a casual board game.

While Weiss did not know what these Fair Folk were, but if they were even as skilled as regular people, the point still stood. If this woman was correct, then the depths of power which the Anathema could draw upon were deeper than anyone realized. If they could fight so many foes at once, they might be able to push the Grimm back. It was an incredible, yet terrifying, notion.

Of course, that all assumed that Tialeth was correct, also neither delusional nor prone to exaggeration.

"I-" Even so, Weiss was at a loss for words. "I believe that there are many things that we should discuss, indoors, where no one can overhear."

"Do you have any fine baths?"

"I'm sure that I can arrange something."

"Excellent, we can talk while attempting to cleanse all this filth." She gestured at her body and ficked her fingers as if they were wet.

Weiss let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Then we can do something about all of this." Tialeth tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It's far too long."

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut. This was going to be a long, long evening.

* * *

All Ruby could make out was the sound of Blake and Tukson walking. They must have been going really far into the back of the shop, probably to stop her from listening in.

"What is all of this?" Blake asked right before something metallic was dropped on a table.

"Weapons. Too many weapons." Tukson sounded completely defeated.

That also confirmed that the Faunus outside were actually talking about weapons when they pointed to his shop. Though, Ruby had no idea why they'd be so secretive about them. Weapons were easy to buy, assuming you were going to be a Hunter or border guard... Or even just someone who went outside of the city a lot.

Fighting off weak Grimm didn't take much more than a high-caliber rifle or a good spear for most people. Assuming they had their Aura unlocked.

"What could they possibly need all these for? "

"I don't know. Some human dropped them off yesterday and told me there'd be more on the way."

"Human?"

"Yep, human. I don't know what Taurus is thinking anymore."

"He would never work with _humans_." The way Blake said 'humans' made goosebumps run down Ruby's spine. "He'd rather die than accept _their_ help."

"Uhh…"

"Sorry, sorry." Something clattered to the ground. "I've been so careful with how I speak, making sure that I never say something like that, and I-."

"It's fine. Happens to all of us. Just, uhh, that was a little close to how he would say that."

They stayed silent for almost a minute while Ruby thought about what she'd heard so far. All the while, she could make out sounds of boxes being opened and closed.

None of this made sense. At least, it didn't considering all of the things that Ruby knew about Blake. That meant that some of her thoughts about Blake were wrong and she had a good idea about which ones.

She'd never heard Blake speak like that, not even in her worst arguments with Weiss. Which made sense, since she made the words sound really insulting. She never used 'humans' in her arguments or even in regular conversation. It was either 'the Faunus', when they were relevant, or 'people'. The closest she got was 'humanity' and that one was pretty harshly said too.

Blake was always on the side that favored the Faunus, up to and including defending the White Fang whenever Weiss went off on them. Now that Ruby thought about it, that would be a really strange thing for a human to do. But, she could understand any Faunus defending people who were trying to defend them, even if they disagreed with the methods used. Just that didn't explain Tukson hiding lots of weapons weapons though.

"So." Tukson said softly. "Despite... that... you're here with a human, now?"

"Yes."

"How'd that happen?"

"You're getting out right? You'll never talk to any of them again?"

"I should have condo in north Vacuo by the end of the year. New name, new papers, the works. If I never see a mask again, I could die a happy man."

Blake paused for a moment, probably doing her lie detector thing. "I'm at Beacon now. She's my team leader."

"That's… different… congratulations."

Ruby ran one thumb over the other as she waited for one of them to say anything. It wasn't like she thought she was a bad leader. But, she hadn't really gotten through to Blake before their talk on the way here.

"It's different, very different. And it's nice... mostly."

"You deserved better than Taurus. Always have."

"That's… He wanted to help..."

"You shouldn't try to defend him. He's a maniac who needs to be stopped." Tukson slammed something on a table. "He crossed the point where he's doing more harm than good a long time ago."

"That's not… We weren't..." Blake punched something wooden. "Why don't you stop him then? He might not listen, but the others would."

"He'd kill me."

"He wouldn't!"

"It's gotten worse since you left. He's been angrier, snapping at the slightest provocation. People could walk away before, now… Now, they purge 'traitors'."

"No… That's not… Adam isn't…"

Ruby clenched her hands together and checked the front door as they went silent again. A very short blond girl opened the front door and peeked in. Ruby could just barely see her eyes in the darkness, the same light green as her parasol.

Actually no, it wasn't just a parasol. There was an extra groove on the body, maybe a parasol-small sword?

The girl snapped to get Ruby's attention. She pointed at the closed sign, then to Ruby, and raised an eyebrow. Ruby shrugged in response and mouthed, 'I don't know.'

The girl scowled and tapped on the cuff of her fancy coat. In the same motion, she rolled her head toward the door that Ruby was standing next to.

Ruby shrugged and held up five fingers. Then thought about how long it had been so far. Maybe it would take more than five minutes for Tukson and Blake to come back. After a moment, she closed them, opened all ten, and shrugged again.

The girl rolled her eyes and waved to Ruby as she closed the door.

"Well that was weird." Ruby whispered to herself. Hopefully Tukson didn't just lose a customer.

The sound of a crate being torn open snapped her attention back to the other room.

"Is that all Dust?" Blake said with a gasp. "What are they doing?"

"I don't know what it's going to be used for, but there's enough to blast their way into any safe they wanted to."

"Where?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Tukson sighed. "Do you think there's any chance that this team of yours would be able to stop him?"

"I couldn't ask them to do that. It's too dangerous."

Ruby frowned. She just said that she would help Blake if Adam came back when he was less bad. Weiss and Yang would too, she was sure of it. Actually, if her guess was right, Weiss would be more than happy to.

"You're a Huntresses. At Beacon! He's just one man."

"I could barely keep up with Adam when I left. I'd only trust one of them to have my back against him."

"The one outside right now?"

In the moment between Tukson's question and Blake's answer, Ruby lifted herself up on her toes and held her breath.

"No, her sister."

Ruby dropped her heels to the floor. What did Yang have that she didn't? She was a good fighter too!

"She seemed like she could handle herself. Looks kind of familiar too."

"That's not what I'm most worried about. She's been on a crusade about not keeping secrets for weeks."

Ruby dug her nails into her palms.

"You think she'd say too much?"

"I think she'd accidentally say it after getting into a shouting match with my other-"

"I can hear you back there and I'm plenty good at keeping secrets, thank you very much!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs. Then gasped and covered her mouth. There was probably a better way to tell Blake that.

For one long moment she waited. Then one of them ran for the door.

Ruby stepped to the side just before Blake slammed it open. Her teammate glanced back and forth twice, not noticing Ruby on the first pass. When their eyes met, Ruby waved.

"You could hear us?" Blake's eyes were incredibly wide.

"Yeah, almost the entire time." Ruby rubbed the side of her neck and looked away from Blake. "I'm also, like ninety percent sure what group Adam leads now."

Blake glanced back into the room, then stepped away from the door. "Ruby, _I_ wouldn't have been able to hear that from where you're standing."

"What're you-" Ruby stepped towards her. "Oh."

Tukson was really far away, all the way at the back of a room filled with boxes. He was eyeing her, his hand very close to one of the Atlas military's standard issue rifles. That was a much better weapon than she'd been expecting.

Blake nudged her further in and closed the door. Tukson barely blinked as they approached.

"Hi." Ruby smiled and waved. He didn't return it.

"Are you sure she's human?" He turned to Blake.

"I was." Blake crossed her arms and shook her head. "Now I'm wondering if she has bat somewhere in her ancestry."

"Nope." Ruby giggled slightly. "I mean, my uncle can turn into a crow, but I don't think I have any Faunus blood… Umm, no offense."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Why would that be offensive?"

"I don't know, but… I just thought that it might sounds like I was saying that would be bad, which I obviously don't think, but..." Ruby looked from Blake to Tukson and back to Blake.

"So, good at keeping secrets?" Blake crossed her arms and gave Ruby a look.

"I won't tell anyone!"

Blake didn't flinch, because Ruby was telling the truth, but she still narrowed her eyes. "How can I trust that?"

"I haven't told Yang about-" Ruby closed her mouth so fast her teeth clicked. She pointed at Blake and squinted. "Good try."

Blake rolled her eyes. "This isn't anything like hiding your reading habits from your sister."

"That's not what I was talking about."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm not just going to tell you!"

"Ruby…" Blake sighed. "Give me something. I don't need to know details, but something that's as important to you as this is to me."

Ruby closed her eyes and thought about it. She kinda of knew something really important about Blake now. There were also some things she'd been keeping secret because she'd been asked to, not because they were especially dangerous. And she'd only been asked to keep them from Yang, her dad, and her Uncle Qrow.

"Okay." She nodded. "But you can't tell Yang any of this."

"That's fine."

"Not one word." Ruby looked at Tukson.

"I have no idea who you or Yang are." He said just before covering his ears.

Ruby took a deep breath. "What's Yang told you about our family?"

"Not much."

"Well, we're not actually sisters." Ruby said slowly. "We're half-sisters."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Yang's mother, kind of ran away without telling anyone why. And then our dad married my mom, who was our actual real mom growing up. Yang was really broken up when she found out what her mother did."

Blake nodded.

"So you see…" Ruby tapped her fingertips together. "When she found out that our moms were different, Yang got really obsessed about finding hers for a long time. She never managed to do it and then… This summer… I kinda ran into her mother."

Blake stared at her for several seconds before gesturing to continue.

"Nope, that's it." Ruby shook her head and waved her hands. No way was she telling Blake how that happened or what they talked about, because it would open up so many other questions. "You have no idea how angry Yang would be if she found out I didn't tell her about that."

"That works, I suppose" Blake groaned and turned away. Tukson waited a moment, then uncovered his ears.

"So... About the Beowolf in the corner…" Ruby lifted her hands up and tapped her fingers together again. She opened her mouth, closed it again, hissed slightly, and finally whispered, "You know… the White Fang?"

Blake and Tukson both nodded.

"Okay so I was right. You both were-" Ruby looked over to Tukson. "-or are, members and are also Faunus."

They both nodded again, more slowly this time.

"Okay, whew." Ruby wiped her forehead. "I was really worried that I was making all sorts of bad assumptions."

"You don't have a problem with that?" Blake asked slowly. "They were… incredibly violent."

"You're no longer with them, right?"

"I'm not."

"And you left because you didn't like how they were hurting people?"

"That's right."

"Have you hurt anyone since then?"

"No."

"Have you destroyed something for them?"

"Of course not."

"Then..." Ruby paused. It was bad that Blake had done that before, but she was trying to do good things and help people now. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that Blake wasn't bad. "Then I'm fine. It's your past and you feel bad about it so… yeah."

"Ruby, I- I helped kill people! " Blake threw her arms into the air. "How can you be okay with that?"

"Blake, as Huntresses, we're going to have to kill people." Ruby dropped her head and stared at the ground. "My mom did, my dad did, my Uncle Qrow still does. We're here to protect the world from monsters and… And some people are monsters."

"Ruby… That's…" Blake sank down, shoulders and knees sagging.

Ruby tried to hold her voice steady. "They're the people who destroy and kill for no reason. They spread panic, that draws the Grimm, and make everything around themselves worse. I'd try to capture them and convince them to change, but… You can't just hold someone in prison forever."

Ruby paused for a moment. When Blake didn't respond, she continued.

"If you keep people locked up like that, they'll draw the Grimm too. Also, a Semblance might let them get out or they could be impossible to contain for other reasons… Like with the Anathema." Ruby sighed and shook her head. "From everything you've said, Adam might be one of these monsters."

Blake winced and clenched her fists.

Ruby shied away from her slightly. "It sounded like he'd fight to the very end and take out as many people as he could along the way, whether they were innocent or not. That's not okay, not for anyone."

When the potential implications of that hit her, Ruby quickly added, "The human stealing all of the Dust in Vale is too. He's breaking all sorts of things and making it really dangerous. Though I'm not sure if he's killed anyone yet... What was his name again?"

"Roman Torchwick." Tukson answered as he backed up.

"Right, him." Ruby tried to meet Blake's eyes, but she looked away. "I wish it was different, that we could change everyone's mind and just have them become good, but…"

"But the world doesn't work that way." Tukson finished her sentence.

"Yeah."

They stood in silence for a while. Ruby clasped her hands in front of herself and watched Blake. Her entire body was tense, muscles fighting against each other. It seemed like she was caught between running or attacking.

"Ruby," Blake said slowly, "How do you know which people are monsters?"

"What?"

"You said that some people are monsters and need to be killed. How do you know who they are?"

Ruby blinked a couple of times. "Well… they're people who hurt other people-"

"Weiss hurt team CRDL, a lot. She physically attacked them and turned them into some of the most reviled people at Beacon. Does that make her a monster?"

"No! She was trying to help Velvet and stop them from hurting other people!"

"How about earlier then, when we came in? You got mad at me for drawing my weapon."

"That's because Tukson isn't a monster and he doesn't even have his Aura unlocked! Shooting him would kill him!" Ruby pointed at him, as if her hand was a gun.

Tukson ducked out of the way of her finger. "Actually, I do. It's just not very strong."

"Uhh…" Ruby looked at him for a moment before turning back to Blake. "Well, I didn't know that. So, I was worried."

Blake still hadn't looked at her eyes. "What about all of the humans who attack the Faunus for no good reason? Are they monsters who should be killed? If the Faunus strike first because they know the humans will hurt them, should they be killed as well?"

"Maybe? Some of them, probably? I don't-"

"Adam thinks that all humans are guilty of hurting us, so it's just to do whatever we want to them."

"No, you don't hurt anyone more than you need to. If it has to happen, if they have to die, then you do it as quickly and as painlessly as possible."

"That only makes you look better and feel better. It doesn't change the end result. People are still dead." Blake squeezed her eyes closed. "What rules do you go by to figure that out?"

"I… well... my parents knew and they listened to the older hunters… So our professors, but…" Ruby rubbed her forehead. "But they also do the investigations so we can't really…"

"Ruby." Blake's voice quivered. She stepped up and grabbed Ruby's arms. Their eyes met, Blake's were watery. "How do you know if you're doing the right thing or when someone crosses the line?"

Ruby blinked as she thought about it. These questions weren't just directed at her.

"I don't know."


	24. Chapter 4-5

Darkness. Darkness and falling.

She was weightless, in a lightless void of heat and fog, endlessly falling as pictures and sounds flashed by.

The moon appeared, high in the sky and whole. It spun, shattering into pieces that broke into more pieces and then turned to slivers of white light.

"Could you explain what do you mean by 'call a demon'?" A voice, cold and reserved.

"You are a sorceress, are you not?" The words came from her own voice, but wrong. "Summon a demon of knowledge, it would surely know far more of what has occurred than I."

"Why would I want to summon demons?" The first voice paused. "How could I do such a thing?"

"I do not know. Such tasks were assigned to sorcerers in my service, I never learned the art myself."

They were drowned out as slivers rained down upon her. The burning bodies and sharp points pierced into her skin. Her muscles ignited, smoldering with the fragments. But it was a slow burn, the type of burn that left her a bowl of human jelly, ready to be poured away.

"What do you mean you do not offer such service?" Her own voice cried out again, haughty and entitled.

The cold voice groaned as a piercing howl sounded.

The red eyes of a Beowolf bored into her soul. The monster's mask appeared from the fog. It bared its teeth.

Her skin burned. Her lungs did too. She tried to gasp, but her mouth could not open.

"What happened?"

"This girl's body does not respond to breathing via Essence. This will be much more disappointing than I thought."

The beast laughed at her as she flailed. She reached for it, grasping against its steely fur.

Her fingers bled as it pushed her away. Bright red streamed from her hands as she fell, deeper and deeper under.

The light dimmed, the Beowolf laughed. Its deep voice growing higher and higher. The blood twisted and turned. It formed into a dress and a sword.

The monster's face shifted, becoming more human. Blood red eyes and feathered hair stared down at her.

 _Mother!_ She tried to call, but the blood rushed into her lungs. She reached up, spreading her fingers wide. The crimson eyes blinked, turning away.

The face faded into the darkness, scattering as a flurry of petals swarmed her. They danced with the giggles of a young girl. Round and round they twirled, pressing into her as if they were a thousand fingers.

They soothed the burning, rubbing it away with countless tiny strokes and caresses. They moved around her, each of the small touches adding to something more. They flowed up and down, still missing some places, but this time pressing very tightly around her chest. They tightened and tightened, and then-

Yang opened her eyes and threw herself forward with a shout. Her chest heaved as she panted in the darkness, heart pounding hard enough that she could feel it in her throat.

Sweat soaked her skin and made the sheets so sticky that she needed to get them off. Yang threw an arm forward, but they were so tangled around her that the silk tumbled down to her waist. She glanced back and forth, but remained blind. To her left, she could hear a shower running, and to the right the sounds of distant cars.

She held her hands ready and waited. The darkness slowly receded as she got used to it. The soft light coming from below the curtains and the door frame let her made some sort of sense of the room. A hotel room, a very fancy hotel room which was full of big pieces of furniture.

Yang leaned onto a throne of pillows, her arms and back sinking deeply into the softness that molded itself to her form. It felt, less bad. Much less bad than she was worried about.

She rolled her neck back and forth, her muscles moved smoothly. Her body felt so nice, even though the pounding right behind her eyes was just as strong as it had been before.

But what had happened? She'd been in the alley, about to hit Weiss again, and now she was here, wherever here was. How had she gotten here? What were those voices she dreamed about?

For that matter, how had she gotten knocked out in the first place? Did Weiss do it? Was that why she was a threat? Did she have some sort of attack that could bypass Yang's Aura?

A shiver ran down her spine. That was a terrifying thought.

Yang reached to her side for her scroll. She only found the waistband of her underwear. Her fingers trailed up until they hit her bra. Goosebumps ran down her neck and she hissed her next breath through her teeth.

She focused her Aura into her hair and glanced around as the glow lit up the room. In one corner, her weapons gleaned alongside her scroll. Her jacket and skirt were there as well. It was all lying out in the open. This might not be as bad as it could have been, but someone had a lot of explaining to do.

The shower stopped. Yang ran her tongue over her lips very slowly.

The bathroom door opened slowly, sending a blinding ray of light into the room. Weiss stepped out of it in a big, fluffy robe with her hair wrapped in towels. She glanced at Yang with an utterly alien look. It was practically demure! "Is there a reason why you haven't dressed?"

"I don't know. You tell me." Yang threw the sheets off the bed and jumped to her feet. She flared her Semblance to warm up.

"Yang?" Weiss' tone shifted as she turned the lights on.

"Who else would I be?" Yang crossed her arms and glared at Weiss.

Weiss's cheeks grew bright red. She turned away and pointed at a pile in the corner. "Please, put something on."

Yang kept the glare for a couple of seconds. If it made Weiss more uncomfortable than Yang felt, then good.

Weiss glanced at her once, then twice, then met her glare. "This is ridiculous."

"What happened? How did you knock me out and why did you take my clothes off?"

Weiss stomped over to a chair, pulled a robe off of it, and threw it at Yang. It flew open and landed on her head.

After a moment of standing still, Weiss shouted. "Just put the robe on!"

Yang pulled it off of her face and slid her arms in. "Weiss. I just woke up, without any clothes, in the middle of some random room. What the hell happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Weiss pulled her robe tighter and sat in one of the arm chairs, slowly sinking into it.

"Punching you in the face."

"The first time or the second?"

"I hit you twice?" Yang gaped at her.

"Do you recall coming into the alley?"

"Yeah. I held you against the wall and yelled a lot."

"And after that?"

"Nothing."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, nothing at all?"

"Okay, not really nothing. I had a really weird dream."

Weiss maintained her expression and gestured to one of the other chairs. It was overstuffed and wide, with cushions that seemed like they would be so nice.

After a moment of considering it, Yang plopped into the chair. "The dream… It started with the moon exploding, then being pierced by the shards, something about demons, then hands almost everywhere. And I was really annoyed about that only being almost, for some reason."

"That would likely be the masseuse."

"We went to a massage place?"

"Yes."

"And the drowning?"

"The bath."

"How?"

"A foolish experiment."

Yang growled. "Are you going to actually explain any of this?"

"After I know what you can recall."

She clenched her fists. She could hit Weiss again, punch that calculating, heartless look right off of her face.

 _Make her answer._

But, that wouldn't get Yang anywhere. Weiss had her over a barrel. "Fine. How about the next sets of hands?"

"Second masseuse."

"Even on my chest? They went really hard."

"No, that was probably the bra fitting."

"Why?"

"Because I needed some excuse to keep Ruby and Blake from coming back when we missed dinner. Also, for some reason a full corset was tried."

"You joking. You have to be messing with me."

Weiss gave her a perfectly level look.

"There's no way that I would forget that much..." Yang walked over to her scroll and checked the time. It had been hours. "What happened?"

Weiss looked past her, then met Yang's eyes. "Yang. Does the name Tialeth mean anything to you?"

Yang's blood ran cold. "What- what're you talking about?"

"Tialeth, of the Solar Exalted."

"How do you know that name?"

"Because I spent the past three hours making sure that she didn't accidentally reveal your secret."

"What?!" Yang shouted. "How?"

"I don't know. She thought that it was the result of some lazy gods not cleaning her Exaltation properly or the blight upon your soul. Then again, she also believed that Vale was sick and disgusting."

"Uhhh..."

"That is the proper name for the cause of someone being Anathema."

"I know what that word means! I just-" Yang glanced to the pile of clothes with Ember Celila on top. "Why do you sound so okay with this?"

Weiss groaned. "Seriously? If I wanted to do something to you, I could've done it while you were unconscious."

"But I'm-"

"Anathema. One of the ultimate enemies of mankind. A vile demon possessing the body of a young girl. A pox caused by our abuses of the land. An irredeemable monster who has sold their soul to the Grimm. An ancient Grimm in human form. A creature who has stolen the power of the Sun or the Moon. " Weiss held up a finger with each statement. "Am I missing anything?"

"A blasphemer who sacrifices people to demons in exchange for fell powers. A witch whose presence can drive a person mad. The child of someone who screwed a Grimm..." Yang continued the list of the Anathema legends from Port's class.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point."

"It's entirely the point. Some of them are obviously ridiculous, but… But…" Yang squeezed her eyes shut. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Why would I?"

Yang blinked a couple of times. She opened her mouth, but couldn't figure out what to say.

"What have you done that would make me want to kill you?"

"I'm Anathema. Isn't that enough?"

"No, I don't think so." Weiss crossed her arms.

"What? You… But, I'm-"

Weiss shook her head. "How would you describe Tialeth's memories?"

"Horrible. She was a monster who did everything she could to increase her own power. She all but enslaved people, made them fight to the death, and forced them to obey her orders. No matter what."

"Yang, do you want to know what I saw when I spoke to her?"

Yang hesitantly nodded.

"I saw someone who was more moral and ethical than my father would have been in her place."

"What do you mean?"

"The Schnee Dust Company could be said to do many of the things that you just described. They keep the miners on almost subsistence wages; carefully calculate the safety procedures so that maximum profit is extracted, even considering worker replacement or PR issues as variables; and if he were able to control people's minds, I'm sure all of this would get worse."

"Didn't you argue directly against that with Blake?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make it a bad argument."

"It makes it a lie!"

"Not this again." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just because I don't believe something, doesn't make it a invalid argument. The points that it made still stand. I would trust any of the members of team RWBY, and also the memory of the ancient Empress in your head, with the powers of the Anathema before I would trust my own father. Or many other members of my family for that matter."

"But the Anathema are evil! I'm evil." Yang thumped her fist to her chest. "Just by existing, I'm putting everyone at risk."

"And yet, you're still here."

Yang clenched her teeth.

"Haven't you had these abilities for what, a few months now?" Weiss asked, continuing without giving Yang a chance to respond, "What have you done with them that's so evil?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly. Despite all of the temptations you've suffered, you haven't done anything wrong."

"I've barely managed to control myself."

"Oh?"

"I always know, in the back of my mind, just how much I would do if I slipped even a little bit."

"What do you want to do then? "

"What?"

"Yang, you can't maintain this. You hit me, twice, and came closer to revealing yourself than I ever would have thought possible outside of a formal investigation. If Tialeth didn't take your body over, I'm not sure you would have stopped."

"That's not…" Yang clenched her fist so hard it hurt.

"Responses like that are what I'm talking about. You want to attack me again, fine, I've done more than enough to antagonize you." Weiss leaned back. "What I want to know is why? What do you want to do so badly that you put this much effort into fighting it?"

"Fine." Yang slammed her hand into the armrest. "You want it, here it is. I want to tear open the gates of heaven, punch every god I can find in the most sensitive bits they have, then put someone else in charge. Probably Ruby if I had any say in the matter, but even if it had to be me, there's no way I can make a worse mess."

"That's oddly specific, rather unexpected, and also not terribly practical to begin working towards."

"It's a long term plan." Yang snapped. "Right now it's more like, smash the system and break whoever's in charge… Including Ruby whenever she tries to make me tell her things that I can't or won't explain."

"But, you don't want to do that…"

"Of course I don't! Ruby's my sister and the entire world depends on Hunters. But, I've got this little voice in the back of my head constantly poking and pestering me to take the first step, like an evil conscience." She growled and clenched her fists. "Take control, use your power, do whatever you want to do. Grab her neck and force her to-"

"Do they actually work in offices?" Weiss asked very quickly.

Yang paused and stared at Weiss. What was she talking about? Where would office come into- The smell of smoke made her glance back. The chair had been scorched, probably by her hair.

"The gods you're talking about. Do they actually work in offices in some sort of heavenly bureaucracy?"

Yang nodded. Weiss completely broke her train of thought, but that was probably a good thing considering where it was going. "Yes? I don't try to think about the memories, but _she's_ seen the gods' city and the buildings."

"I had assumed that was an embellishment of some sort." Weiss squeezed her lips together for a moment. "Moving on, this desire of yours is obviously causing you a large amount of stress and does not seem like it can practically be worked on. What else do you want to do that you haven't been acting on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something, anything that you want to do which would make controlling yourself easier for you? A de-stressor that you haven't had the chance to partake in because it would be wrong to do so."

"Nothing good."

"We've already established that you're a terrible, man-eating demon who will destroy the world if let off her leash. What do you have to lose by telling me exactly what your evil conscience wants?"

Yang leaned forward and clasped her hands. There were some things that she could do which she was pretty sure would help. The only question was how to explain them without seeming completely insane.

"Well…" She started slowly. "The first thing that comes to mind is telling off all of the professors. Let them know just what I think about them and tell them where to shove their stupid assignments."

"Assignments? You're annoyed about having to do homework." Weiss drew the word out, squinting at her.

"Yeah, like all of those dumb essays that Oobleck gives us. They take hours to write and I'd rather be doing almost anything else."

"That may be possible to do, provided you aren't too rude."

"Nope, being rude is the point. They need to hurt and try to fight back."

Weiss gave her a withering glare. "We can cross that one off of the list then. Antagonizing the professors would be a terrible idea."

"Yep."

"Anything else?"

Yang licked her lips. Getting really drunk then going on a rampage through downtown Vale would feel really good. Fighting without any care about who she hurt or what damage she inflicted, really cutting loose and unleashing her full strength. "I could beat someone bad within an inch of their life, burn them a little, and then leave them alone to suffer in their miserable failure."

"I think that one's obviously out."

"Duh."

"Is there anything that isn't both stupid and evil?"

"Well, there is one thing… I wouldn't be as easy though."

"Go on."

"Someone I can compete with, really seriously."

"You have plenty of competition at Beacon."

"No, I don't. I goof off in fights because it's the only way to keep them interesting. People also love it. And because of that, I could be with anyone I wanted to... With a few exceptions. Each of whom is the only type of person who feels right for this."

Weiss gave her a look of disbelief.

"I need someone I can go all out against and they can take it. That leaves Blake, Pyrrha, a few of the professors, and now you." Yang checked again. Weiss was still a threat. "I don't know what you did, but you're suddenly much more dangerous than you were a week ago."

"How can you tell that?"

Yang shrugged. "I just can. I look at you and get a sense of it."

"The memories you have suit you." Weiss shook her head. "Tialeth was only slightly more helpful than you when explaining how she learned or accomplished anything with her abilities."

"Sorry?"

Weiss sighed. "Regardless, you want a rival, someone you can fight against."

"No, more than that. A true enemy, and maybe a best friend too. We'd have the type of battles that bands would sing about or that you hear about on the news. Constantly fighting and trying to beat the other to whatever the big prize is."

"A serious and powerful rival."

Yang growled and shook her head. This was so simple. Why didn't Weiss get it? "It's about constantly working to draw the other person in, no matter the field or what has to be done. Ruining their plans and taking what you want from them in the process."

She cleared her throat, then said in a deeper, announcer voice, "'Trio rampages through downtown Vale, embroiled in a masterful three-way debate, after the duos' date was interrupted by a romantic challenger. Eyewitnesses report an arousal of their faculties and an expansion of their minds.' Or 'spurned lover kidnaps her rival's sister and ties her to the top of the CCT demanding just one more night.'"

Another withering look hit Yang.

"I know what I said."

"You couldn't sate yourself through normal debate or intellectual competition? You really need to be so cartoonishly jealous?"

"Normal and intellectual aren't really my, or the voices', idea of fun. There's not... strong enough. I doesn't give me the fight feelings, the right burning desire." Yang slammed her fists together. "So that leaves competing with someone in an incredibly over the top manner as the best option because the other thoughts surrounding it all involve doing things to people that are really bad."

"It's certainly the least bad one that you've mentioned so far. Did you have to describe it like that though?"

"You're the one who asked."

"Fair enough. Are there any others."

"Yes, but they all involve seriously hurting or killing someone."

Weiss took a deep breath. "Very well. We have our answer then."

Yang glanced back and forth once. "You can't be serious."

"I said what I said."

"You'd actually do something like that? Go after someone I'm also interested in?"

"I'm working off of the assumption that you are both correct about what would help and being honest. I had already been thinking about what I wanted and who might be interesting." Weiss smirked.

"Why would you spend so much time thinking about it instead of just going for it?"

"There are important considerations to make before acting."

"Like what?"

"Whether or not they would be receptive. If it would cause too much stress on other parties."

"Why does what other people think matter?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Ruby."

Yang bit her lip. The thought of Weiss, tricky and manipulative Weiss, doing anything with her little sister made her blood boil. "That's a good point."

"You don't need anything else to worry about. At the rate you're going, you'll expose yourself within the month if we can't find a solution."

"I'm not that bad."

"You are, in fact, that bad. If anyone else had been with you tonight, I'm fairly certain you would be running for your life."

"Blake would've been fine."

"Blake practically wears her feelings on her sleeve and she would not have reacted well to some of the topics that were brought up."

"And you did?"

"I'm better at hiding my reactions and know how to interact with such people. I don't think any of you would have been able to play at being less experienced and deferential high-nobility."

"You're right, you are better at hiding that." Yang closed her eyes briefly and and tapped her fingers. "What do you get out of this?"

Weiss didn't respond.

"Why do you want to help me so badly? I'd get caught if you left me alone. Trying to help me paints a huge target on you."

"Because I care." Weiss sat up and leaned forward. "I care about you. I care about Blake. I care about Ruby. I care about how you being revealed would affect everyone else connected to you. And thanks to tonight, I care about all of the possibilities that the future may hold."

"The future?"

"Think about where you are now, how many people you can effortlessly defeat. Where could you be in a year or even ten?" Weiss eyes held a spark of danger that Yang had never seen in her before. "If Tialeth's information is right, and we can keep you and Blake from being found out, then we might be able to do what no one else has ever thought possible."

"Weiss…"

"We may be able to beat the Grimm." The a glimmer of madness danced in Weiss' eyes as a vicious grin spread on her face.

Yang nodded. "That's… that's crazy."

"Is it? Many Anathema report thinking that they'll be able to do it. Everyone discounts these thoughts for obvious reasons."

Yang gulped.

"What if they can remember what you can and know how far they can grow? What if they were right?"

If they were right, then they could never be stopped once they won.

"That's why we need to make sure that you and Blake don't have any other problems."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Don't you have to worry about being found out yourself? Or are you not also Anathema?"

"Yang." Weiss' voice was sickeningly sweet. "Doesn't anticipation make the prize that much more enticing? What sort of devious rival would I be if I just told you my plans and how I could accomplish them?"

Lightning ran down Yang's spine. This could be very fun.

* * *

One informative conversation, awkward dinner, half-formed idea for how to save people, and book later; they finally made it to the White Panther. Ruby didn't know what she was really expecting a club Yang thought she would enjoy to be like, but this wasn't it.

The actual place was a subdued building with solid white walls and no windows. The only entrance was a stairwell down with a beefy guy leaning on the railing. He nodded to Yang and Weiss immediately. Considering they went with tank top and mini-skirt or tight dress and jacket combos respectively, they probably fit in perfectly. Blake's half unbuttoned shirt and leather pants also got a pass.

But, he was looking at Ruby, she'd gone with the rose dress, very suspiciously. Thankfully, she could feel the pressure build and only needed to lightly tap on it for the world to move.

He shrugged and let her past immediately afterward.

"Whew, I was a worried for a moment." Yang gave her a thumbs up and led the way in.

The inside was very different from the exterior. The club had a central dance floor with two tiers of floors above it. All of the couches and chairs were black leather or dark wood. The music was pretty good too. It had a nice bass beat that she could feel in the floor. Maybe it was a place she'd enjoy after all.

"We're pretty early so getting a table should be a piece of-"

"If it isn't the burning bimbo." A snooty girl in a very nice white dress, with bladed heels on her boots, interrupted them.

Yang clenched her fists and stepped towards her.

The girl, who had way too much makeup on for Ruby's tastes, sneered at them. "Are you here to destroy another bar?"

"Don't give her the satisfaction." Weiss whispered as she looped her arm into Yang's. She tried to walk away, but Yang refused to move.

"What do you want?" Yang asked through clenched teeth.

"You gone." The girl stood up and stepped towards them. "I like the White Panther and you're a danger to everyone around you."

Ruby pulsed her Semblance and dashed between them. "Stop being mean."

"Who are you?" The girl stepped to the side, but Ruby met her movement. "Get lost. This is between me and her."

"Ruby, stay out of this." Yang tried to push past her.

Weiss pulled Blake in as well, but even both combined were only able to stop Yang's advance, not pull her away.

"Yang, she isn't worth it. Ahh!" Blake shouted as Yang shook her off.

The girl and Yang were so close, glaring at each other over Ruby's shoulder. She could feel how hot both of their breaths were.

"What're you going to do?" The girl dragged her heel across the tiles.

"I'm going to get us a table." Yang stepped back and tossed Weiss off as well. She spun on one heel want walked away.

"What are you, scared?" The girl shouted and tried to push past Ruby again. "We're not done here!"

"Yes, we are." Yang glanced over her shoulder. "You, your sister, and Junior couldn't beat me three on one. How could you possibly stop me now?"

The girl grit her teeth loudly enough that Ruby could hear it. She stomped on the ground, crossed her arms, and stalked back to the bar. "Hmph, fine. Be that way."

A moment later, Ruby was right next to her sister. "Who was that?"

"Someone I fought because her boss was a jerk." Yang stomped up the stairs.

"Yang…"

"I'm fine, Ruby. She's just… Very annoying and really wanted me to hit her."

Ruby sighed. If Yang had fought that girl before, then she probably had a decent Aura. But why she'd want to get hit was a mystery. "If you say so."

They took over a small table in the corner of the top floor. It was mostly empty, with a couple of other groups who stayed far away from each other as well. Blake and Yang put their backs to the wall, with Ruby sitting opposite Yang.

"I assume that each of you has a number of questions about how the investigation are run." Weiss said just loud enough for each of them to hear.

All three nodded.

"Bear in mind that any of the information which I reveal about the procedures will make them that much harder on you in the future." Weiss paused, looking at each of them in turn. "Do you still wish to proceed?"

Another series of nods.

"Very well." She leaned back and look at Ruby.

"First question." Ruby held up a finger. "Why are you ok with what happened to you? It was terrible and isn't something any Hunter should ever do."

"Because it was within the scope of a stage two investigation." Weiss held up a hand when Ruby opened her mouth. "It calls for putting the target in what they believe to be a life or death scenario. This is normally done by having a Hunter, that they don't know, pose as a criminal attacking the target, but only inflicting superficial injury."

Ruby felt her heart rate rise with every word Weiss said. "Then why didn't they do that?"

"Because of what I know." Weiss lowered her eyes. "I knew that it called for a fake scenario and they knew that I knew. As such, I was placed a real crisis where my survival was in question."

"That's horrible." Ruby barely resisted shouting.

"It's one of the only ways to be sure." Weiss looked back up, meeting Ruby's eyes with ice. "If you were Anathema, do you think you'd be able to take an injury like that? Even knowing not only that it could kill you, but also that calling on whatever powers you possessed would save your life?"

"I…" Ruby cut herself off with a gulp. Yang and Blake were both staring at the table. "I don't know."

"Exactly, most people would instinctively react and try to save themselves. That's why the investigation works."

"That… That still shouldn't... There has to be a better way than torturing innocent people!"

"If you loosen the severity then Anathema can slip through."

"That…" Ruby wasn't sure what to say there. The Anathema were dangerous and needed to be stopped, but torturing or killing innocent people just because they were suspected was so wrong she could barely imagine that anyone would be willing to let it happen. "I can't accept that. There has to be a better way."

"It was more compassionate, and failure prone, in the past. But everything got tightened up after it failed completely."

"What happened?"

"Johnathan Argint, the name given to the most successful Anathema since the end of the Grey Period."

"Argint… I've heard that name before." Ruby whispered. "That was going to be another question I had actually."

"Where did you hear it?"

"I listened in on Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck talking. They said that they thought you could be… Whatever Argint Scenario meant."

"The Argint Scenario occurred shortly after the founding of Atlas, when the kingdom was still in flux. One of the silver Anathema passed all three investigation stages by using his powers to shapeshift himself and his servants into people who could sign off on his trials. After he passed, he pushed to make the investigations safer and less likely to harm someone."

"I had no idea they could do that, change other people as well as themselves." Blake said softly.

"Neither did anyone else, until it happened."

"How did he get caught?" Yang asked.

"One of his conspirators accidentally revealed information that the form they were wearing had no reason to know. He was investigated and cracked, telling all of his Master's secrets that he was aware of."

"That's why they're this bad?" Ruby squeezed her hands together.

"No, they were worse in the past. What do you think the Colorless Empire did to catch Anathema?"

The thought of that made Ruby shudder.

"That event is why they added more chaos to the investigations and started using the Grimm again. It's the only way to be sure." Weiss left a question unspoken. Another question that Ruby didn't have an answer for.

 _Which are worse: the Anathema or the Grimm?_

They sat in silence, listening to the thumping of the music. Ruby turned the question around in her mind, again and again. Some theories said that the Anathema were Grimm. If that was the case, then they're both equally bad. But, what if one of the others was true? What if there were demons that wanted to destroy the world behind the Anathema? Or if they were people who were so bad that they'd have been monsters without their powers?

If they were, would leaving them to the Grimm not be bad? It could never be good, that much she was sure of. But it wasn't bad to let monsters hurt other monsters like that, was it?

The more she thought about it, the more firm her 'no' was. Even terrible, horrible people shouldn't be tortured. If the Grimm could feel pain, then they should be killed as quickly as possible as well. Though, that was something she didn't need to worry too much about. The Grimm continued to move and fight even if they had limbs cut off.

Yang slid her chair back. "I need a drink. Any of you want anything?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Water," Weiss said.

"Blake?" Yang prodded her partner.

"Something sweet."

"I've only got two hands, come help me." Yang pulled Blake to her feet before she could respond. Ruby caught her eyes and Yang dragged her away.

Ruby glanced over at Weiss and held the thumbs up under the table. Then she changed it to a thumbs down. Blake held her lips together tightly, then nodded.

As soon as they were gone, Ruby turned to Weiss.

"So, what would you say if I told you that Blake and I stumbled on something that we might be able to help a lot of people by stopping, but was really dangerous."

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"You see, there's something about the guy who's been stealing all of the Dust in Vale and where we think he might be getting his..." Ruby paused, trying to find the right word to use. "Goons from…"


	25. Chapter 4-6

Blake let Yang drag her all the way to the next landing down in the stairway before pulling her arm free. It was completely enclosed, a place where anyone inside would hear anything they said and anyone outside would get nothing. As soon as she pulled away, Yang stopped moving.

For moment they waited, listening for anyone one else present to make some sounds over the beat of the music. Blake watched Yang the entire time as well. Her partner was fidgeting more than normal, tapping one foot randomly while clenching and unclenching her hands.

"No one else can hear us." Blake couldn't hear anyone else present: no breaths, no heartbeats, and no soft static of microphones. "Why did you actually miss dinner?"

Yang took a breath, then looked right at Blake. "Weiss knows about me."

"I know that much."

"What? How?"

"She heavily implied it while she was answering Ruby's questions." Blake left off that Weiss had also asked for help changing Yang's opinion about the Anathema,. Ruby's as well. That wasn't something that she was sure she could help with, but she needed to try.

"Really? I thought that she was warning me and giving me advice for the next week."

"That's odd." Blake thought about exactly what Weiss had said again. She didn't think that there was that much more hidden in her words, but what if there had been.

"Those are sort of similar, but not really the same. If she can talk like that and get different points across… " Yang's eyes went wide. "She'll be able to beat me so easily."

Blake raised an eyebrow. There was something else to that statement which might matter. _She focused her Aura and the whispers between Yang's words revealed themselves. 'Weiss could flirt with anyone, right in front of me, and I wouldn't be able to tell.'_

Heat rushed to Blake's cheeks. She was going to leave that one untouched. "Does that mean that Weiss is also like us?"

"I don't know. Probably?" Yang shrugged. "She refused to tell me anything, but I can't think of anything else that could explain it."

"How could this happen?"

"You've got me. I was surprised that there was someone else like me. Two others… That's nuts."

Blake was pretty sure it was three, but she didn't want to start that argument up again. Though, that did bring up something else important. "Did you tell her about Ruby?"

"What about Ruby?"

"That she can hear Aura."

"Oh crap!" Yang moved for the stairs.

Blake caught her arm. "We can't exactly tell her right now."

"Argh, you're right." Yang slammed the bottom of her hand into the wall. "She can tell us whatever she wants, but we can't warn her that Ruby might be listening in."

"Is it really that much of a problem?"

"If she keeps doing whatever she's doing and Ruby figures it out… Maybe."

"Just maybe?"

"She didn't know what it meant the first time and hasn't called us on it yet, so… If we can figure out a good enough explanation, something that makes sense…" Yang ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it past her ear. "Maybe using our Auras to change our voices?"

Blake stared at her. "Do you really think that would work?'

"I don't know. I'm bad at this."

"This would be much easier with Weiss' help." Blake sighed, her main method of lying was to simply not say anything incriminating in the first place. She also knew next to nothing about what exactly she was supposed to be hiding. "Or, if you can find out more about what exactly Ruby can hear."

"That's…" She looked away.

"We need to know what to expect. What we can't do while she's around, and you're the only one she's told this to." Blake had been careful to not draw on any of her power while Ruby was nearby. It made everything so much harder to work on.

"Yeah… But... What happened with you and Ruby anyway?"

Blake took a breath as tempting as it might be, pushing Yang was a bad idea. Also, this was as good of a time as any to explain what she and Ruby had talked about over dinner. "Ruby knows about me and the White Fang…"

"How?"

"The owner of the bookstore she brought me to was a member and he recognized me."

"You said was." Yang pointed at her.

"He's still helping them, but wants to get out."

"Okay, makes sense… How did Ruby find out?"

"We went to the back room to talk and she listened in."

Yang hissed and flinched back. "Oof, that must not have been a fun talk."

"She was… surprisingly okay with everything." Blake shook her head. "And we figured something out in the process."

"Oh?"

"We think that Roman Torchwick-"

Yang tensed slightly.

"-and the White Fang are working together."

"Why? How?"

"The Fang have a lot of high quality Dust that they got from... humans." Blake tried to make sure she wasn't saying the word with any bad inflection. When Yang didn't react poorly, she continued. "He's been on a Dust stealing spree for weeks and could very easily have been the source."

"What're we going to do about it?" Yang punched her palm. It was a relief, but getting her on board was the easy part.

"I want find out the truth. If they're working with a person like him now, and stealing that much Dust, then they have to be planning something big."

"What do you think they're trying to do?"

"I don't know, but-" Blake cut herself off as the door one floor beneath them opened. Almost immediately after, someone got slammed into a wall and the sounds of aggressive kissing echoed up the stairwell with very deep moans. After several seconds of waiting, there were no signs of the couple stopping.

A zipper was unzipped. Blake angled her head towards the door, Yang nodded. They slipped out, leaving the boys alone.

"Drinks?" Yang pointed at the small bar in the corner.

Blake nodded, following behind. As they moved, she noticed that Yang was putting far too much hip into her stride.

Yang sauntered up to the bar and waited for the bartender to turn to her. He was young, sort of scruffy, and had a pistol on his lower back. With a nod and a smile, he said, "Ladies, what can I get you?"

"Strawberry sunrise, no ice. And…" Yang looked at Blake while the bartender started pulling bottles out.

Blake shrugged. "Something sweet-ish still."

"Black Panther Special for her and then… Virgin hot chocolate and a glass of water."

"You want to start a tab?" He'd started pouring the water first.

"Nah." Yang placed her card on the edge. "We'll just take these."

Blake watched him pour everything, keeping a close eye of his hands. He was careful, with just a little bit of flare, spinning a bottle in one hand as he put it away.

When he finished hers, he took a long look at her weapon. "You want this kicked?"

"Kicked?"

"We're good, thanks." Yang cut in with a wave of her hand.

"Suit yourself." He took her card to a machine on the side.

"Kicked?" Blame nudged Yang.

"Yeah, it's one of their club specials: dark rum, almond liqueur, coffee, cinnamon whiskey, and a touch of cream. If you get it kicked, they sprinkle a little Fire Dust on the top. Just enough to give it some zing as it goes down."

"That's… dangerous." Blake thought back to how much pain eating or injecting Dust caused some of the more reckless members of the White Fang. They thought it was the quickest way to make their Aura stronger or gain some new power. Technically they were right, but no one knew the techniques to really make use of it.

"Eh, not really." Yang shrugged. "They only offer it to people who probably have their Aura unlocked and there's barely any Dust. I probably inhale more during most fights."

Blake sighed and shook her head. There was enough danger in life already. Why add Dust poisoning to the mix?

She watch the dance floor while Yang waited. There were a few Faunus out there, more than she would've expected from a _human_ nightclub. None of them had White Fang tattoos, but two still had the right edge to their movements. They danced further away from everyone else, keeping close to one of the exits. Of course, she couldn't get a good look at their arms or backs either. That could be a problem when she was leaving.

"Here you go." Yang passed her two glasses and headed for a different set of stairs than the one they came from.

Again Blake listened carefully. After confirming they were safe, she nodded.

"Ruby wants to do this too?"

"She thought it would be something good, which we could do, that the professors weren't helping with."

"Do you really think we need everyone for it?"

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I think just the two of us could do it. You know, as partners." Yang grinned.

Blake blinked at her once. That statement didn't need any Aura use to find the not very hidden meaning.

"Come on it'll be fun." Yang smiled brightly. _The air in the stairwell seemed to heat up. Blake's heart started pumping faster as the vision of them fighting back to back-_

Blake forced the thoughts down, just like she had to during the investigation. Yang's enthusiasm was infectious enough that she was tempted, even though she knew it was a bad idea right now. "I appreciate the interest, but Ruby's telling Weiss right now. Do you think she'd be okay with us doing something this important without her?"

"We could just call it a-"

"Yang." Blake cut her off. "Can we please focus on the important problem facing Vale that we can help with?"

"I am focusing on it." Yang's smile broke.

Blake sighed and shook her head.

Yang sulked slightly. "Okay yeah. Fighting bad guys is good too… But… How're we going to do that when-"

* * *

"-you're missing your weapon and I'm still injured." Weiss gestured between Ruby and herself.

"I know that, but we don't have to actually go and fight him tonight. We can wait for Crescent Rose to be fixed and for you to finish healing."

"And everyone to mentally recover from what just happened to us?"

"I'm fine. Blake's fine. Yang's… she's better… I also think going out and doing something real would help her." Ruby had caught Yang with a pained look on her face a couple of times this week when she didn't know that Ruby was looking. "Also, it doesn't seem like it really affected you at all."

"I knew exactly what I was getting into."

"You almost got eaten by Grimm!"

"And that was within the bounds of what I expected. I would have been disappointed in Beacon as an institution if they hadn't done something like that."

"It isn't what we, as Hunters, should ever do."

"Sometimes, there are only bad options and you need to find the least bad one."

"That was so far from least bad that I don't even know how to explain it."

Weiss took a deep breath. "Which are worse, the Anathema or the Grimm?"

"Both." Ruby answered immediately.

"Both isn't a valid answer!"

"Yes it is!"

Weiss gestured for her to continue.

"What options are worse changes depending on everything else. If the Anathema really do create or control the Grimm, then they're obviously worse. If they're people who made pacts with demons or the Grimm or something then… They're equal I guess? But that still doesn't mean that letting the Grimm eat people who might be Anathema is ok."

"What's so wrong with using one threat to fight another?"

Ruby slammed a hand on the table. "If you become a monster to kill a different monster, then you haven't solved anything. There's still a monster running around, only now other people think that it's ok to do whatever you did which will just make them worse."

Weiss looked at her for a few moments before responding. "The Grimm are the monsters in such a scenario, not the people using them."

"Using the Grimm to hurt people, on purpose, is one of the worst things someone can do." Ruby clenched her hand as the pressure build around them. How did Weiss not get this? She mentally repeated herself and tried to shove the world to one side, but it just sort of wiggled around her and all of her energy dissipated into the air.

She exhaled sharply. That happened around Weiss more than anyone else. It was like she tried to push in a direction that didn't really exist and got knocked off balance because of it.

"Ruby." Something flickered across Weiss' face, but Ruby couldn't figure out what it was. "I can't agree with that. There are far worse actions which someone could take than allowing the Grimm to torture someone."

"Like what?"

"Letting thousands of people die instead of admitting you were wrong."

"That's… not fair." Ruby stood up and glared at her.

"Life isn't fair."

"That's not what I meant! I-" Ruby forced her mouth closed. Weiss' argument wasn't a fair comparison at all. But, if she got madder, then Weiss would walk all over her, just like last time. It was a fight, a verbal fight, and she needed to think about it like that. How could she do this?

' _How can I make this work? How can we come to an understanding?' She whispered to the strings of the world. They sang a song back to her, a vision of the ripples that she could cause: she could continue arguing, get angry, call the others in, back away, punch Weiss, and so many other options. What did she want, how could she get it?_

She made her choice.

"I'm done." Ruby took a deep breath and sat back down.

"Done?"

"We're not going to agree on this, so I'm not going to keep fighting about it." She needed to find a better argument to get to Weiss. Blake seemed like she got it, sort of. Even if she didn't, she'd be able to figure out what to say.

"Very well." Weiss leaned back. "I still don't think that we should do anything that risky until we're prepared for it."

"All we need to do is look around town. We don't need to fight anyone or do something dangerous."

Weiss gave her a skeptical look.

"Okay, so we don't need to but… We're all really good Huntresses already."

"We're still students."

"We're…" Ruby caught Yang and Blake coming back with the corner of her eye. She waved. "Yang! Tell Weiss that we can handle fighting Roman Torchwick's goons."

"Huh? Of course we can." She set a mug of hot chocolate in front of Ruby and plopped into her own seat.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "We're still students. He's beaten many different adult Hunters by himself."

"That's not really a high bar. We could probably take most of the seniors and they're… well, most of them are better than a lot of actual Hunters. Like the guys who guard camps from Beowolves and Ursa."

"Thank you for ruining my plan to keep us safe, Yang." Weiss sipped her water with a look of indignation on her face.

"That's what I'm here for." Yang gave Weiss a thumbs up and sipped her orange-red drink... that smelled suspiciously like rum. Blake's glass did too.

"I thought you weren't going to drink!" Ruby yelled, pointing at the glass.

Yang shrugged. That argument never worked on anyone else in their family either.

Ruby groaned and looked at Blake, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Blake, can you back me up too?"

Blake looked from Weiss, to Yang, then back to Ruby. "I'd like to at least look into this tonight."

"Fine, I'm outvoted." Weiss crossed her arms and sipped her water. Then she licked her lips and smiled very slightly. "What took you two so long?"

Blake started coughing mid sip. She slammed her glass on the table, almost spilling it while she she took quick breaths. "We didn't-" She took a quick breath. "We didn't take a long time."

Yang squinted at Weiss, who smirked back at her. Blake blushed more and held her eyes closed.

There was something else going on that Ruby had missed. She sipped her cocoa and watched them carefully. Yang had done… something.

"Yang." Ruby drew out her sister's name. Once she had Yang's attention, she eyed her, watching her face very carefully. "What exactly did you and Weiss do while we were at dinner?"

"Uh… I." Yang's pupils dilated and she froze on a worried half smile for a fraction of a second.

"I have pictures if you really want to see." Weiss waved her scroll in Ruby's direction. The smirk was still there and Ruby could practically hear the taunting follow up. " _Do you really want to see your nearly naked sister posing?"_

Ruby gulped and shook her head quickly. "Nope, nope. I'm good. I- uhh..."

"Are you sure?" Weiss hovered her finger over a button. "They do look very nice."

"Weiss." Yang raised her voice slightly.

"Or should I ask about what you and Blake were up to in the remaining hours?"

"We read books!"

"What kind of books? Were they the-"

Ruby waved her hands wildly. "No! I'm sorry. I don't care what you and my sister did or didn't do. I won't pry, just put your scroll down and… and… Torchwick!"

"Yes, him." Blake nodded quickly.

"We need to… Uhhh… figure out where he is and then catch him." Ruby resisted the urge to flinch under Weiss' glare. "Catch him at some other point, that is… like... tomorrow?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "How about, when Crescent Rose is fixed?"

"So, two days from now?"

"You can't fix that much damage by then"

"If I go all night, and get lucky with my first cuts, then she should be good by that afternoon."

"You'd also be too tired to fight. I'd rather find a temporary weapon and stop his next crime." Blake said, her drink half finished. Her cheeks were still bright red.

"Girls, we'll be fine. We can handle it, even if it's the three of us-" Yang nodded towards Weiss and Blake. "-plus half-asleep Ruby with a rifle."

"I can make a good enough scythe in a couple of hours." Ruby said under her breath. She'd broken a good number of scythes when she first started training with Uncle Qrow, so she had that down pat.

"That doesn't change the fact that we have no idea where he is or how to find him. For all we know, he could be here right now." Weiss gestured towards the back of the club.

"Don't worry about that. I've got this." Yang finished her drink with a grin.

"What are you going to do?" Weiss said deadpan.

"Figure out who might know him and then talk to them."

"Yang." Ruby sighed. "Are you going to burn down another bar?"

"Hey, I've only lit two buildings on fire and neither burned down!"

"Two?" Blake and Weiss asked simultaneously.

"One of them was an accident." Yang turned away from them. "I'd just graduated from Signal and Uncle Qrow wanted me to lite some shots on fire to celebrate. I got them… along with the bottle of whiskey... and a few others too. Which blew up... and got the tablecloth and the curtains."

"I can see where this is going." Blake shook her head.

"It wasn't too bad." Yang laughed. "We helped evacuate the room, then dad blasted it with Air Dust until the fire went out."

"I was washing ashes out of my cape for weeks." Ruby shuddered.

Weiss groaned. "What was the other one?"

"Oh, that was Melanie's boss's club." Yang paused for a moment. All three of them were staring at her. "Melanie… The girl in white who wanted to pick a fight with me."

They nodded slowly.

"Anyway, I wanted to get some information from him, but he was kind of a jerk so I wound up fighting him instead. Well, first his guys, then Melanie and her sister, then him. Everything was going great until he yanked my hair."

Ruby winced. That would do it. If he seriously damaged Yang's hair, then it was a surprise that his bar was still standing.

"How do you know that won't happen here?" Weiss pointed at Yang. "Your hair is a rather impressive target."

"Simple. I've been watching the crowd and I'm pretty sure Melanie's the best fighter here besides us."

"How would you be able to find someone who knows Torchwick?" Blake asked, glancing from Yang to Ruby.

"I've got a feeling about it."

Blake rolled her eyes. "You just want an excuse to show off for us, don't you?"

Yang laughed and grinned at her.

Ruby groaned. Mission accomplished, sort of. What was the worst that could happen?

Actually… She took a moment and thought about what could go wrong. The nagging feeling in the back of her head that danger was lurking around the corner was missing, so there wasn't anything really risky that would happen to Yang. Yang also liked the idea and neither Weiss nor Blake was complaining about letting her work her magic nearly as much as Ruby would've expected them to.

Ruby placed her empty mug on the table. "Let's do it."


	26. Chapter 4-7

Yang swaggered onto the dance floor, matching each step to the pounding of the bass. As she hit the edge of the crowd, she moved in, bumping and grinding against whoever was nearby as she made her way through the shallow sea of bodies. The floor wasn't pressed shoulder to shoulder quite yet. Slide in, shimmy near whoever was surrounding her, then side to the next group.

The heat of bare skin pressed against her own, the feeling of their breath on her neck, and the way she shifted their hips with her hands. Some people just had no rhythm, but as long as they let her lead, that wasn't a problem. It was what she really needed. There was no web of lies, no need to worry about what Weiss was planning, and no way that what she was doing was bad. It would be so easy to just get lost in the dance. _To let let her joy radiate out until the entire crowd joined in, then it would get harder and faster, knees and elbows would start flying to the beat of the music and-_

Yang pushed the thought down. She could do it, she knew she could, but there were too many people without Aura here. It would be a blast for her, and for some of them too, but it would be a little obvious and very dangerous. Also, she had a job to do: _pick a fight with the older girl who knew where Roman Torchwick was._ Her gut told her that the solution to their problems rested in that girl. Just like how it told her that the best way to find Blake right before the investigation was a drinking contest with two upperclassmen. She might not have been able to trust her instincts about many things, but this was one of them.

Her eyes were drawn to her target from across the room, a bear Faunus who spent most of her time hiding in the corner with a boy who seemed just as prickly. He was also a Faunus, the curly horns gave it away, but Yang wasn't sure what type. Sheep maybe?

At the normal party, she would've tried to drag them out into the fun. Both kept glancing at the crowd with an intense, longing look. They had the eyes of people who wanted to join in, but were too proud to do it. It was kind of like Weiss in some ways, definitely not the shyness that Blake or her sister radiated.

As she approached, Yang gave them a quick once over. They both definitely had their Auras unlocked, but they were very weak. It was better than nothing. The girl also kept glancing at the guy, in very particular locations. Meanwhile, he was looking everywhere else, especially towards the other girls dancing nearby. Yang took a deep breath, getting her annoyed should be easy, all she needed to do was press the right buttons.

"Hey there." She stepped behind the boy and slapped him on the ass. Yang let her hand linger.

"Whoa… Can I help you?" He straightened up and glanced over his shoulder, shying away from the contact after a moment. His eyes flickered from Yang to the other girl.

"I'm pretty sure you can." Yang stepped up and pressed into him again, leaning her chin on his shoulder.

"He's not interested." The girl snapped, her ears flattening as she yanked at his sleeve.

"Come on," Yang whispered in his ear, completely ignoring the girl, her voice low and sultry, "You know what they say about boys with big horns."

"I-uhh…" The boy stammered, his cheeks growing redder as Yang shifted her body up a little. He met the motion, leaning in.

"Ferrer," The girl growled. He straightened up.

"Oh. Sorry, didn't see you there." Yang looked at the girl, then waved her hand to the side. She was only a couple of inches shorter than the boy, so there was no chance of someone missing her when they were this close. "Do you mind giving us some space?"

"Hey, look I- Ahh." Ferrer started talking, but Yang made him yelp with a pinch to the butt.

"I said he's not interested."

"He seems pretty okay with this to me."

"I'm good Cyan. You don't need to-" He chuckled nervously and held his arms up.

"You're not supposed to be doing anything with the-" She cut herself off and clenched her fists so hard her knuckles went white.

"With what?" Yang squinted at her.

"With you." Cyan got up on her toes to meet Yang's eyes.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty great, but I'm not a 'the'. What did you mean by that?"

She growled again.

"If you don't have a good reason, why're you mad? He's a big boy." Yang shifted to the side and slid her arm around his waist. "He can do what he wants."

"Look, Cyan, I-" He whimpered.

"Shut up, Ferrer."

"Or what?" Yang leaned closer to her. "What's her problem? She's not your girlfriend is she?"

"No, we're just a friends." He leaned into Yang, then turned to Cyan. "You've been acting like this all night. What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand." She crossed her arms.

"What? That you're jealous?" Yang shook her head, expecting a punch that never came. Which was a little strange because she'd have hit someone doing what she'd done by now. Maybe she'd been wrong about why Cyan was reacting that way.

"Or is it." Yang dropped down to barely more than a whisper. "Because I'm human."

Cyan flinched. Still no actual attack.

Yang felt the excitement bubbling up again. She could just let it go, force the fight here and now. Again, she pushed the urge back down. It wasn't necessary and these two were normal people, not Huntresses or Anathema. Just sucker punching Cyan didn't feel right either, she needed to push more. "What are you? A member of the White Fang?"

"Woah." Ferrer pushed Yang off of him. "What the hell? We're not with them. We hate those psychos too."

He glared at Yang, pausing for a moment. "Right, Cyan?"

Ferrer turned and caught her face caught between anger and terror.

"Cyan… You- You're not... " Ferrer shuddered, voice almost cracking. "Please, tell me you didn't."

"They were the only ones who tried to help us." She said so softly that Yang could barely hear her.

"They broke Blaise's leg when he told them they had to pay him."

"They're fighting to save all of us!"

"They're… They don't… I can't…" With every word he said, she shuddered. "Is that where you learned how to…" He stared at his hands. The light glow of a very weak Aura pulsed around them, then he clenched them tightly. "I… I'm out. I can't deal with this right now." He pushed past Yang.

She didn't dodge the punch. Cyan caught her on the cheekbone, but her Aura took the entire blow.

"You… you." Cyan continued throwing punches that Yang didn't dodge. They were lighter than the first. She shouted between each hit, voice growing more hoarse by the second. "Why?"

Maybe forcing the fight would've been a better idea after all. It would've saved both of them the pain of a stranger revealing it.

She let the hits keep coming for a little while, then grabbed Cyan's wrist. "That's enough."

"You ruined everything." She pulled her other arm back.

"No, I didn't." Yang spun Cyan around mid swing, making her hit air. "You did."

Yang stepped in, flipping the girl over her leg. "I just made him know about it."

With a quick lift of her knee, Yang flung the girl up. A follow up elbow shot her over the crowd, with an extra wave of force from Yang's Aura. A scroll fell freely from her pockets. Yang snatched it as it tumbled through the air. The scroll was what she was looking for; she could feel it in her soul.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" Melanie yelled so she could be heard over the fading music.

Yang had launched Cyan towards the other girl. While she had dodged the flying Faunus, the men with her hadn't. They looked familiar, probably more of Junior's men that needed a new job while his club was being fixed.

"Guess not." Yang tucked Cyan's scroll into her bra, on the opposite side as her own, silently cursing her lack of pockets.

She raised her fists in a ready stance as she sunk into her knees, but didn't deploy Ember Celica. Even without her weapon, it would probably be too easy. Though, the guys bowled over by Cyan gave her an idea.

How many of them could she knockout by hitting their teammates into them?

* * *

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Weiss sighed. The dance floor had become a brawling pit thanks to Yang's influence. Bodies flew left and right, colliding with each other more often than not, while the blond slide past any attack that came her way and moved right into another powerful hit.

It had started 'innocently' enough. While none of the dancing could truly have been called innocent, it was interesting enough to watch. If only her other teammates were down there as well. And that the fighting had not begun. And that this was a proper ballroom. Actually, there were a large number of changes which could be made to make current events suit Weiss' taste far better.

"Woo, go Yang!" Ruby cheered, leaning so far over the edge of the railing that a single push would send her tumbling down.

"I'm still not clear on what this accomplishes besides mass-property damage." Weiss shook her head as the girl in white was sent flying through another groups, bowling over two men and ending sprawled on a third. As the enemy with seemingly the most Aura, she had been Yang's primary projectile. The fact that she charged head first into another attack immediately after standing up didn't help matters.

"It seems like she's having fun." Blake shrugged and joined Ruby's leaning, though she kept herself within the railing. "And there isn't that much that's been destroyed."

The crash of a shattered mirror drew their eyes to the side of the room, where normal people were cheering from behind overturned tables. Thankfully, the owner had enough foresight to buy shatter resistant ones that didn't result in large shards of glass raining down on unprotected bodies.

Blake winced as the man fell onto a couch. He didn't get up. "Well, there hadn't been. Did the club expect that this-" She waved at the crowd. "-would happen?"

"Lots of places where a bunch of Hunters go do that." Ruby pointed at the lighting rig above the stage. "The beams and joints over there are reinforced. Even if they had twice as many lights up, it'd probably be able to hold three or four people without any problems."

Weiss gave her a look of exasperation. Ruby wasn't giggling and that sounded too ridiculous to be a joke. Though, if she ran with the assumption that Yang knew this club had those protections in place, then coming here and starting a fight was suddenly much less reckless.

"Do fights like these really happen that often?" Blake asked the question that Weiss refused to.

"I mean. Our Uncle Qrow either got into a fight, or had a story about one, at pretty much every bar he took us to. A big crowd always showed up to watch because him and my dad were really well known for having good ones."

"That's so different it's hard to comprehend." Weiss shook her head. "A Specialist who did something like that would be in an incredible amount of trouble. They serve the people. Damaging someone's property is as close to the opposite as you can get."

"Why didn't you go to school in Atlas then?"

"I have no intention of serving anyone and the military academy requires a minimum six years after graduation. Elite Specialists are expected to continue long past that."

"Mom and Uncle Qrow sort of felt that way too. They pushed any paperwork onto dad whenever it came up, but mom still- Oh!" Ruby snapped her head back down and jumped up on the railing.

A gunshot sounded at the same time that Ruby vanished into a cloud of rose petals. She wasn't quick enough to stop the first shot, but that didn't matter. Yang casually backhanded the Fire Dust pellets into the floor. It seemed almost accidental, she didn't even bother looking at them.

Ruby, on the other hand, had tackled the man with the shotgun and was trying to wrestle it out of his hands.

"They're more similar than I would have ever expected." Weiss said as she pushed her Aura into her words. _'Ruby has to be Anathema as well.'_

Blake perked up and looked at Weiss for a moment. She tensed her mouth before saying, "Yes."

Weiss nodded her head towards Ruby. Their leader, having failed to get the gun out of her opponent's hands, had jumped behind the bar and grabbed a deck broom. Her flourish almost perfectly matched the rhythm of the music.

"It was difficult for me to realize because Ruby seems much more perceptive than her sister. However, they are distressingly similar in temperament as well." Weiss hoped that Blake would be able to pick up on what she really meant. Keeping track of all of the fighting, along with the crowds' reactions and plotting her next movements at Beacon, was very taxing on her Aura and put her uncomfortably close to her limit.

Blake nodded very slowly. "I'm not sure I would consider that a bad thing. They both have a very strong sense of right and wrong. I'm sure they'd be… safe and responsible. Though it does… uhhh… make them hard to talk to about certain things."

"Life isn't black and white, no matter what they might think. Even tools which may seem despicable have their uses." Weiss kept a close eye on Ruby as she disarmed the man with an impeccably placed strike to his hands. She followed up by sweeping his knees out from under him. "Thoughts of justice can easily turn to a zealotry that damages not only the person, but also those around them."

Yang shifted tactics as her foes dwindled. She let them surround her and started slapping her enemies' attacks out of the way. In the same motion, she danced between them and turned them towards each other. Most of them had the self-control to not hit their own teammate, but it only took one overly aggressive person to become a problem. And a problem he was.

Blake took enough time to think that two men had been knocked down by friendly fire before she responded. "Complacency and amorality can cause just as much damage by ignoring or denying problems. Just because we aren't dealing entirely with black and white doesn't mean there aren't actions which are so dark or light they may as well be."

"Not all problems can be resolved quickly. A complex solution requires a great deal of consideration and incremental change."

"Sometimes, you can't afford to wait. There are people who are both impatient and hurt by the status quo." She nodded at their teammates. "Someone else _will_ take matters into their own hands if the steps are too small."

"That doesn't make them correct. Haphazard overreactions will just create more issues in the void remaining, assuming they succeed in the first place." Weiss sighed. Of course Blake would bring the White Fang up as well.

"If someone's pain can't be… soothed, then they'll do anything that has a chance of helping." Blake's hands shook as she held the railing. "Even if it hurts everyone else in the process."

"It's _human_ nature." Weiss glanced knowingly at Blake. "Something that more people should fight to control."

Blake frowned and started to open her mouth.

"Has Yang told you how I found out about her proclivities?" Weiss pivoted the topic away from the argument that never ended before Blake could continue it. Considering Ruby's very transparent lie about them overhearing White Fang members talking about working with Torchwick, Weiss had to assume that bringing them up more directly to Blake would not end well at the moment.

Blake raised an eyebrow, the faintest blush hitting her cheeks. Weiss smiled softly

Weiss leaned over, letting her hair dangle on Blake's shoulder. "Her friend, Tialeth, took revealing them into her own hands."

"Who?"

"The girl from far away." Weiss had recovered enough to push another hidden statement. _'The Anathema from her dreams who she sees the life of.'_

Blake's eyes went wide. "Oh… Her."

"I met up with her while Yang was resting."

"That… I didn't know that was possible."

Weiss quickly winced while Blake was looking at her. It wasn't likely that anyone was listening to them, but it was still a worry.

Blake lowered her head slightly and flashed an apologetic smile. "Did she tell you anything else?"

"I wouldn't quite describe the conversation as illuminating, but it was close."

Blake winced and glanced at Yang. Most of her enemies had either fallen unconscious or were pretending to. Ruby jumped down to join her sister, the shotgun in hand.

Blake licked her lips. "How did Yang react when you told her about it?"

"Worse than I'd ever expected." Weiss had just enough to push another explanation in. _'She was shocked that I hadn't killed her and ranting about how inherently evil she was.'_

"Oh…"

"And I have to imagine that Ruby would react the same way if she knew what we'd been up to."

Blake nodded again.

"We need to convince them there isn't anything wrong with it."

"I'm still not convinced they're incorrect."

Weiss tried to meet Blake's eyes, but she looked away. "Why?"

"The world is full of lies, running away, and potential targets. There are so many people who have already fallen through the cracks and come back worse. How can we be sure that our justice won't be... corrupted as well?"

"Society can be strengthened, the cracks can be mended, and we have an advantage that others did not. We have each other." Weiss laid a hand on Blake's arm and lightly squeezed.

Blake gave her a suspicious glance her, but didn't pull away.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I didn't just mean it only that way and you know that."

Blake shook her head and smiled, then gestured to the dance floor again. The tiles had been cracked, along with countless mirrors. "What if all we can do is destroy? Tear down what exists without putting anything good in its place."

Weiss pointed at the happy crowd gathering around Yang. The fight had been very impressive and it seemed that Ruby's thoughts on destructive fights were accurate. "I don't think that's the case, but if it is, then we find the right targets and let the chips fall where they may."

"I don't think we'll agree on what those targets are."

"Why not? It's possible for a system and those who want to end it to both deserve destruction." Weiss looked over their teammates again. _'This is something we need to do together, in agreement, with Ruby and Yang's reactions signalling when we're wrong.'_

Blake held her gaze, then slightly nodded.

* * *

"That was amazing!" Ruby cheered as the burly bouncer escorted them out. "I had no idea you'd gotten that much more control over your Semblance."

"Heh, yeah." Yang ran her fingers through her hair and turned away.

"While it was impressive, was there any purpose to it beyond your own enjoyment?" Weiss was waiting for them at the entrance with her arms crossed.

"Yep." Yang pulled a scroll out of her shirt and held it out to Weiss.

"Urgh." Weiss recoiled. "It's covered in sweat."

"Why do you have a second scroll?" Blake asked.

Yang leaned in close and whispered, "The first girl I fought was a member of the White Fang. If they're really dealing with Torchwick, then we should be able to find that in her scroll."

"How exactly would that help?" Ruby picked the scroll up and slide it open. A password screen greeted her. "Even if she is a member, and we manage to figure out her password, why would she have saved anything like that? Wouldn't it have been better to follow her back to her base?"

"The White Fang operates in cells to stop people from tracking them like that and you need to be back at Beacon tomorrow." Weiss looked over Ruby's shoulder. "Even assuming we follow her unnoticed, it could be weeks before she goes to another meeting."

Ruby giggled slightly and held the scroll out for Weiss, but she didn't take it. Instead she pointed at a drop of sweat about to fall from the edge. Ruby awkwardly giggled as Blake took the scroll and wiped it off on her shirt. She tried a few passwords, none worked.

Blake sighed. "Most people don't cover their tracks well. If she hasn't deleted her recent location searches, then we have some very easy places to look for. If we're lucky, we could find him tomorrow."

"That makes sense… Hmm..." Ruby nodded and watched Blake carefully. She had a meeting tomorrow, but none of the rest of her team did. They could go out there and find him now, then he'd be stopped that much sooner and no one else would be hurt. But, waiting would let her get Crescent Rose fixed and make sure Weiss was all better, so they'd be sure to get him. Assuming they could find the information.

If they waited, they could also get more help. Team JNRP would probably be able to help track him down and box in anyone trying to get away. For that matter, if they didn't catch him themselves, she could tell the Professors about where he was. They couldn't ignore an opportunity to do good like that… But if they did….

 _'How should we catch him?' Ruby plucked the strings and visions exploded around her. There were so many different ways they could move, but one thing stuck out to her. Anything less than all of them would have problems._

"I have a plan." Ruby stopped and gestured for everyone to move in. "Our best chance of making sure we get him is with as many fighters as we can find a week or so from today."

Weiss nodded, but Blake and Yang both made confused faces.

"He's escaped from lots of Hunters already and we'll be going after one of his bases. He'll have getaways covered." Ruby gestured slowly as she spoke. "We can beat most of them in a fight, but we can't be everywhere at once. If we have team JNPR with us, then they can help corral him."

"That would be very dangerous for them." Weiss glanced at Yang. "And Jaune would actively be a hindrance no matter what we do."

"We're Huntresses, or we're going to be soon enough, danger's in the job description." Ruby shook her head, then paused to think. Weiss did have a point about Jaune. "And Jaune can handle communications or be a spotter. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren would join us on the assault, each coming from a different side of wherever we find him. Between all of us, there's no way he'd escape."

"I don't know." Blake said slowly. "I doubt they'd go along with this unless we tell them more."

"Weiss?" Ruby looked to her partner with her eyes wide. "You're best at arguing those things."

"If we telling more people, then we should simply tell the Professors about his location and leave it to them. They're the professionals." Weiss shook her head.

"They've been ignoring him this entire time. If we, a brand new team, got this far in a few hours, how have they not caught him yet?" Ruby almost shouted, but barely managed to keep herself under control. Yang flinched back. Blake did too, but not as much.

"Sis, if that's true…" Yang hesitated by biting her lip. "Then we should just do it ourselves. We don't need to bring other people into it."

"We need other people and we're not that much better than they are." Ruby didn't add that the world told her they'd have a much better chance of succeeding with help because that would just sound crazy.

"We're rea-" Yang cut herself off by slamming her mouth shut. The pressure built.

 _'We need help.'_ Ruby pushed against the world and it moved. She needed someone on her side if they were going to do this. Also, she could explain her real reason to Yang when they got back to Beacon. And then… maybe tell Blake and Weiss. She'd get Yang's thoughts on that first though.

Yang squinted her eyes, as if she was in pain, but nodded. Blake glanced from her, to Ruby, and tensed up slightly.

"If we're going to do this we need to hit him as hard as we can, when he isn't expecting it, and have people further out to catch him when he runs. There are probably some other things which can work too, but I think this is our best options."

"Yeah." Yang said without much enthusiasm.

"Let's sleep on it. We can't do anything until after returning to Beacon." Weiss stepped back and waited for the others to as well.

Ruby met Blake and Yang's eyes in turn, then nodded. "Okay, so… where are we going? The last shuttle was a while ago."

Weiss sighed. "My family has an apartment we can use."

"Why didn't we go there to talk in the first place?"

"Because I'd hoped to not have to worry about the tabloids finding me taking three people to a private apartment and Yang's idea sounded interesting."

"And you're okay with us going now?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I already brought Yang there, bringing her back with you two won't be that much worse."

"What did you do?" Blake asked as she looked between them.

Weiss pulled her scroll out. "I still have pictures if you really want to know."

Blake blushed and shook her head.

"You'd better send me copies." Yang muttered under her breath.

"I don't want to know anymore." Ruby groaned. She was very tempted to call Weiss' bluff; however, the danger of it not being a lie was too real. Some day she would, but today was not that day.


	27. Chapter 4-i

Question 3: Which of the following is a weak point on a standard Beowolf?

She rolled her eyes and tapped the 'All of the above' option on her scroll: eyes, mouth, and… elbow. Elbow sounded good enough. It wasn't like she needed to actually do well on the assignment, just good enough to not get kicked out before the Vytal Festival. Though that was still months away. Months of boring, tedious, and pointless assignments between bursts of joy as the students of Haven fell beneath her heel.

It was the little things that kept her going and taking those brats down a peg was one of the best she could remember. They thought they were going to be so special just because they knew some ancient martial arts style that had been passed down for generations. Maybe if they'd learn how to fight real people, instead of Grimm or tournament fights, those skills would have been worth something.

Question 4: What is the proper name for this species of advanced Grimm?

She shook her head at the image of a big four-legged beast. It wasn't something they ever saw in Vale, so this question would require actually reading up on things. She rolled her head back and forth while moving the scrollbar up and down. It wouldn't be hard to find the information, but that would be so boring.

A crash sounded from the room next door, followed by several more crashes as things tumbled down. And then the shouting started.

The night might be fun after all.

Neopolitan, Neo to exactly one person, swung her legs off of the bed and stepped over to the door, careful to make as little noise as possible. She cracked it just far enough open to peek through.

"-worthless animals!" Roman shouted, brandishing his cane in the general direction of the White Fang members milling around the warehouse floor. A couple of them flinched away as the end pointed at them. They were either the smart ones or the few who'd seen him fight. She couldn't remember the last time his bright white coat had a speck of dirt on it.

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if that-" He pointed to a bright red container, "-had gone off?"

A couple of them looked around and shrugged.

"The red containers hold the high quality, very volatile Dust. You're all lucky that butter fingers the baboon over here is so short, otherwise you'd all be dead."

The monkey Faunus that he pointed to, she could tell because of his tail, waved his fist at Roman. The idiot.

"I dropped it because you yelled at me!" He shouted. Several of the other Faunus drew in next to him, nodding their heads. The smarter ones made themselves scarce.

"That wasn't yelling." Roman said softly before suddenly raising his voice, "This is yelling! Before you bungled your simple job up so badly, you were about to load one of the red cases onto the green pile."

The Faunus glanced from the case, to the pile, and back. "They look the same to me."

"And you're supposed to have better eyes than I do." Roman shook his head and turned away. "Go sweep the floor and stay away from any Dust. The rest of you get back to work."

He stalked back to the side of the room with his giant map, where two more White Fang members were waiting for him. The pair had their leader tattoos exposed.

"Now that the little problem has been resolved, let's continue. We've gone through almost all of the easy targets, which leaves us with the hard and profitable, the remote and worthless, and the utterly insane." He pointed to a section of the upper-class district and then the agricultural district and ended on the rail depot that brought Dust in from the mines. Ever since the White Fang robbed one of the transport trains, the SDC had doubled their security forces. "The stuffed shirts have a lot of Dust and all of it's high quality. But, they also hire Hunters as guards. This means that I'm going to have to babysit every operation. So, we have to make each job count."

Roman paced over to a second map, which was zoomed in on the second richest shopping district. "We're going past the bottom of the barrel. They know the rest of the city's hurting for Dust and will be expecting us to hit them. The first thing that you two are going to do is-"

The squeak of an eraser rubbing across paper made Roman go silent as he turned around to face them. The two Faunus were writing his plan down dutifully, one on a scroll and the other in a notebook. It took a few seconds of silence before either looked up. Both took a half step back when they saw his scowl.

"What are you doing?" He walked in front of the girl with the notebook.

"Writing down your instructions." She said between clenched teeth.

"Where's your scroll? We gave you a good one for a reason."

"I lost it."

"You lost it." Roman said deadpan. "How?"

"Some Huntress knocked me across the White Panther. I couldn't find it afterwards."

"And why were you fighting a Huntress?"

"Hey, she picked a fight with me!"

"I thought you were one of the less stupid ones." Roman groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. He continued the same way a teacher would talk to a child, a dumb child. "Where do you think your scroll might have gone? Did it grow a pair of legs and start dancing a jig? Did it get picked up by some pretty monkey-boy with amazing abs? Or could it be that this mystery Huntress was tracking down beasts like you and now she's probably bearing down on us as we speak?"

Neo smiled at the pun, though the bear girl didn't seem to get it. Or maybe she was too scared to laugh, that worked too.

"This isn't a circus, there's no tamer to keep you freaks safe when you screw up."

The girl flinched back. "She- she was a dumb party girl. There's no way she could do that."

"Was she really that dumb or did she just want you to think that? There are plenty of Huntresses who are good actors or have allies smarter than they are." He dropped his voice down lower. "Now what did she look like?"

The girl gulped. "Tall, blonde, and young. She wore club clothes, but had golden bracelets on her arms. They looked too heavy to not be weapons of some sort. Though she didn't need them to kick half of the club's collective asses."

"Young, blonde, fights with her hands. Any idea about her Semblance?"

"She sent me flying way further than I should've been and did that to everyone else too. Also some sort of crazy reflexes. I don't think anyone touched her, even when she was surrounded and being shot at."

"Probably a Beacon brat then." Roman paced in front of her. "If she was skilled enough to take on the Panther's security unarmed, she'll be a junior or senior looking for something 'good' to do over winter break. One of their top of her class students who'll become a real pain in a couple of years. Did she have anyone else with her?"

"There was one other girl. She..." The girl clenched her hand tight. "She was…"

"Well? Out with it." Roman twirled the end of his cane in a circle.

"I think she was… Uhh… She had black hair and…"

"Are you serious? You can't even remember what she looked like? She's a Huntress. She should have something distinctive: her weapon, her clothing, anything."

"She was also young, younger I think, with flowers on her dress… Umm, lilies?"

Neo pursed her lips behind the door. A Huntress should have been more memorable than that, which meant that something interesting was going on. Did this girl have a Semblance that disguised her or was she just that boring?

She conjured an image of her Haven disguise. Long hair, frilly top, and miniskirt: all in black. Her phantom curtseyed with a vicious smirk and twirled her parasol.

Maybe this mystery girl had a Semblance like her own and was using it to disguise herself? That could be very interesting. Black-Neo ran her finger along her throat and lulled her head to the side, eyes closed and tongue hanging out.

Silently laughing, she shattered the illusion with a snap and turned her attention back to Roman. He'd finished his angry rant, which left the Faunus girl shivering, and had turned back to the map.

"This changes things. One of you will have to scout out our new targets." Roman rubbed his chin and looked at the pair in front of him. He pointed at the girl again. "What's your jacket size?"

"What?" She raised her voice a hair.

"You kind look like someone who could shop this district. We just need to dress you up a bit: stick you in a silk suit, darken your complexion a little, and you'll fit right in."

She blanched. "You think any of those humans would let a Faunus into a store?"

"Not all humans hate you animals and most of the ones who do won't say anything in public. If you show up looking like you have money, they'll barely bat an eye." He paused for a moment. "Just keep your mouth shut as much as possible; you sound like you grew up on the docks."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because, I need to keep watch over the warehouse in case your mystery Huntress shows up. With the cripple missing, someone who can fight needs to be on hand."

"She'd destroy you."

"Really? Well then." Roman looked to the door and met Neo's eye. He drew out his pause with a smirk. "If you're that scared of the big, bad blonde, I have some good news."

Neo conjured an illusion of the door and stepped out of the real one, picking her parasol up midstride. She sauntered into the room, unseen to all. As she moved, she drew her needle.

"We have some assistance on that front for the next few days." He gestured wildly with his cane and smiled at the door.

Neo stuck her blade between the girl's thighs and drew it along her femoral artery in a smooth motion. It didn't have a cutting edge, but her Aura should have been strong enough to hold even if it did.

"Ahh!" She shouted and swung her arm around, shattering the illusion.

But, Neo had already started moving. She slipped under the girl's arm, then tapped her on the back with the point of needle, right above her kidney. She yelped again and jumped away. Neo gave her a deep bow with a smirk.

The Faunus held her lips closed so tightly they turned white.

Roman applauded. "And that is why we have nothing to worry about. Between the two of us, a no-name Huntress won't stand a chance. "

Neo rose and met his eyes. She spread her fingers, mimicking Cinder's fire hand pose to remind him of the added danger lurking in the warehouse. A grimace flashed over Roman's face. Their boss was still in her secret room, doing who knew what with the best Dust they had, and gave very specific instructions about not being disturbed for any reason.

While Neo'd been watching her for the entire semester, she still had no idea what Cinder was or how she did everything she did. She hadn't even figured out what the beautiful language that Cinder sometimes spoke in, when she thought no one was listening in, was. Though the woman managed to make it sound as diabolical as it was heavenly.

It was possible that she was an Anathema. Considering how easily she'd beaten both of them, that option was fairly high on Neo's list. If she was… Neo shivered at the thought. She and Roman had never dealt directly with one of them before. Maybe she'd be able to find the secret of that power too and take it for herself.

She could see it now, Roman and Neo, rulers of the underworld and the overworld. Well, actually no. Ruling meant responsibility. Roman could have that. He'd handle all of the planning and paperwork while she... executed.

"Tomorrow morning, you two are going for a fitting." Roman held a hand out while Neo bowed again.

She left an illusion behind, still bent over, and stepped behind the Faunus girl again.

"This is ridiculous. There's no wa- Eep." The girl yelped again when the point of Neo's needle ran down her spine.

"Ah ah ah ah. No complaining." Roman wagged a finger at her. "You brought this on yourself."

Neo departed with a skip in her step. She needed to keep this one around, it would be a shame if someone so amusing went and died on her.

The illusion stepped right in front of the girl, smirked, and then shattered into her face. This time she didn't shout. Neo sighed, but didn't turn back. She still have homework to do… eventually.

She slipped back into the room and immediately noticed two things. The first was that her scroll had moved. The second was that the most terrifying person she had ever met was holding it.

Cinder Fall was sitting on the edge of Neo's bed in the outfit that she had been wearing when they first fought. A red dress with Fire Dust and Orichalcum thread sewn into the fabric. She hadn't worn it for months.

"Neopolitan," Cinder said with the smug smirk she always had, "We will be returning to Haven later than anticipated. Prepare yourself for a trip to the mountains South of Vale. We will leave when Emerald arrives. Mercury and Professor Eurwen will complete our team's 'away mission' by themselves."

Neo raised an eyebrow. That was unusually straightforward. No obscure metaphors, no veiled hints about what she might do to them if they fail, just a simple order. She met Cinder's eyes with a squint, something else was going on.

Cinder narrowed her eyes and ran a finger along the edge of the sheets. The obsidian coating her nail split the threads so silently that Neo could barely hear them tearing. She pushed the temptation to match Cinder's burning glare down and lowered her head. It made Neo's blood boil, but there was nothing else that could be done, not when she was in one of these moods.

Cinder could, and would, kill both of them if they failed her. She'd more than proved how easy it would be when she 'recruited' them to her cause and purged dissenters from the White Fang.

Neo left her head bowed until long after the tearing had stopped. When she glanced up, the flames smoldering in Cinder's eyes had died down, but they weren't gone.

"You will serve as bait to draw the Red Queen out." Cinder continued, while Neo took a quick breath. She was going to go up against the second most powerful fighter she'd ever met. "Do whatever you want to her men and women. Once she has been lured from her camp, we will strike with our most potent warriors. She shall perish just before she is able to discover the fate of her counterpart."

Neo glanced at the door to Roman and gulped.

"He is not needed for this. All he has to do is find a doctor who meets my specifications and continue depriving Vale of Dust." Cinder tapped on Neo's scroll and narrowed her eyes again. "We will remove one of the pieces from the board before she can discover the truth behind her opposite's fate. Then, when the Prodigal Son acts, he will be too exhausted to move against us. The stars have told of his fall and it shall begin here."

She turned the image of a beautiful valley toward Neo. The cliffs fell in a perfectly symmetrical manner as they spiraled into the shore of a lake. At the center of the lake was an island with several White Fang tents encircling an enormous tree. Or was it a grove of trees interweaving?

It was as if seven tree trunks grew in a perfect circle and split as they rose. Where they met, they reconnected, only to re-split soon. Again and again they waved as they climbed to a tremendous height, easily taller than many of the buildings in the city.

Neo paused, then raised an eyebrow again. She had never seen anything like that before.

"Don't question. Obey." Cinder changed the image to one of Neo and Roman when they were first starting out.

They were a pair of street rats with no sense of class or style. Roman had just bought his first suit, it fit him terribly, and had used so much product that his hair looked like an orange helmet. Neo had a terrible part, pinks strands of hair mixing with brown ones in a combination that would make her nauseated to be seen with now, and used her Semblance to make most of her clothing. She'd actually been wearing a shirt too small to fully button and pants which needed four rolls to not drag on the ground.

Cinder ran her thumb over the surface of the scroll, nail biting into the glass as it passed over Roman's neck.

"Play your part and you will be rewarded. Fail and-" She pushed her thumb into the scroll, shattering it with a loud pop. "I will find other pieces."

An illusion covered up Neo's heavy breathing and clenched teeth. Her phantom nodded slowly while she dropped her hand to her needle. She gripped the handle so hard that normal wood would have exploded.

Cinder smirked and strutted to the door. "Be prepared to leave at a moment's notice."

The illusionary Neo nodded.


	28. Chapter 5-1

Blake stood at the edge of the cliff with Weiss and Yang flanking her. It was one of the safer ways to get into the Emerald Forest and away from anyone who might overhear them. A camera had been placed near the best one after Yang blew up the tree.

"This is where you've been going at night?" Weiss leaned over the edge, then stepped back. "It doesn't seem very private."

Blake rolled her eyes. "We need to go down to the forest, away from the cameras. Come on."

"Wait." Weiss grabbed her sleeve as she was just about to jump off. "I'm still injured. Carry me down?"

Blake stared at her, blinking a couple of times. Was she serious? Weiss should be able to handle a fall like that without any problem.

"What? That's not fair." Yang yelled and grabbed the other sleeve. "If you're going to carry her down, then I get to carry you."

Blake's cat ears strained against her bow as they flattened. "Of course that's what this is about. You two are ridiculous."

"Come on Blake." Yang pulled Blake's arm against her chest. "We're just trying to-"

Blake focused her Aura into her muscles, then pulled herself free. She moved with as quickly as she could, grabbing both of them by the collars of their uniform jackets. As soon as she had a good grip, she lept off of the cliff with all of her might.

Weiss gasped and Yang cheered while they were in free fall, trees flying by underneath them. Blake did her best to ignore them and focused on the ground. As it approached, she moved her arms just enough that her teammates would swing forward as she landed. Just before the moment of impact she twisted her aura beneath her and killed all of the speed of the fall, landing lightly with her knees barely bending.

She tossed Weiss and Yang in the same motion, the pair impacting in the air and tumbling to the ground. However, they managed to twist into less of a mess than Blake had hoped. Yang wound up almost catching Weiss, but it was good enough. "Can we please talk about something serious? We don't have that many chances to be direct."

"This is serious." Yang pushed herself up and rested her chin on Weiss' head. The smaller girl immediately sat up very straight, but didn't fight her way out. "I couldn't be anywhere near this forward if I was worried about freaking Ruby out."

Blake was certain that it wouldn't actually affect Ruby that much, unlike everything else that she wanted to talk about. But, she held her tongue. Instead, Blake offered Weiss a hand up, which she took with very little delay. Of course, she also waited to let go until long after she regained her balance.

"I partially agree." Weiss offered a hand to Yang as Blake sighed. "There are many topics that we need to discuss without Ruby present and this is one that's very important."

Blake could clearly make out her additional words. _'Yang denying herself is only going to make the stress worse.'_

"It's not that I don't appreciate it, but…" Blake felt her cheeks heat up. "Why me? Why now?"

"Well." Yang drew the word out. "There's barely anyone else who feels right for something serious and those who do are either too old, too straight, or too suspicious of us."

Weiss nodded then turned to Blake. "You're also one of the only people I can have a decent conversation with and there are other aspects tying us all together which would be difficult, at best, to explain."

"Ha, so you admit it!" Yang pointed at Weiss.

"I've admitted to nothing." Weiss crossed her arms. "We've all been through a harrowing experience together which we should not explain the details about to others. It's natural that people would grow closer after such a thing."

"Come on, no one can overhear us." Yang dropped her voice to barely a whisper. "Are you, or are you not, also Anathema?"

Weiss looked Blake in the eyes. "I'm not going to answer that question."

It wasn't a lie.

"What about last night? What did you and Tialeth really do?"

"I'm also not going to answer that question." Weiss rolled her eyes. _Blake searched the echos between her words. 'It would be too embarrassing to say.'_

"I think I should know about what happened to my own body."

"You would have been fine with everything that happened," Weiss said without a hint of a lie in her tone.

Blake nodded to Yang.

"Yeah, well I-" Yang froze when Weiss touched her neck . Weiss moved her hand down slowly, shifting it back and forth as her fingers trailed down her back. Yang shivered as she continued. "Y-you were the second masseuse. How are you this good?"

"Your reactions tell me all I need to know about where to touch and you're tough enough that I can use my full strength without worry about hurting you." Weiss grinned and met Blake's eyes again. Her gaze pierced through her in a way that Blake hadn't seen since her first kiss with Adam.

"So, Blake-" Weiss continued.

"Torchwick, Anathema, The Grimm! Anything else please." Blake cut Weiss off as she forced some of the scenes from the book she'd read yesterday from her mind.

Weiss slowly pulled away from Yang. The fire in her eyes vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. "Blake, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"That isn't how someone who's fine acts." Yang stepped forward and held a hand out.

Blake sighed and crossed her arms. "It… it's just…"

She looked away from both without answering. Ruby figured out who Adam was incredibly quickly. All of the puzzle pieces were in the open, but the two bridges between them hadn't been revealed to Weiss yet. While her hatred of the Anathema was a lie, she truly despised the White Fang.

"I'd really rather not talk about it, but…" Blake looked at Yang. "Could you please be a little less… in my face about all of this?"

"But I-"Yang reached for Blake then stopped herself and clenched her eyes. She made a fist and squeezed hard enough that her arm shook. "Okay, I can do that."

The fire had died down in her eyes too.

"Thanks." Blake let out the breath she'd been holding. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm not doing worse."

"I suppose that's all we can hope for."

"No," Weiss said sharply. "We can and will figure out something. Why hasn't this been helping?"

"I don't know." Yang shrugged. "Maybe it hasn't been big enough?"

"So do something larger." Weiss met Yang's eyes. "There's so much that you can do that I refuse to believe there is no solution which will solve it all."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Do either of you know how long the average Anathema remains active?"

"A couple of months?" Yang said slowly.

"Right." Weiss nodded. "When they're found, they're killed very, very quickly. They cannot be left alone once confirmed because of how easily they acquire power and out do everyone else."

Blake and Yang both nodded.

"Both of you are already past that point and I assume have started moving beyond what normal, adult Huntresses are capable of," Weiss continued. "We don't know where the peak of the power of an Anathema is, but we do have a source of information about it. The memories from a previous life that Yang can access."

"I'm not going to-"

Weiss cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I wasn't going to ask you to risk that again. However, what is the most potent thing that you personally can remember about them?"

Yang pursed her lips while she thought. "I think it would be… Yeah, it's definitely cutting a mountain in half."

Blake stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Yeah, like, this guy who she really admired took his Grand Daiklave, her word for a really big sword, in both hands like this." Yang raised her arms over her head. "And swung down. As he did a huge… no an enormous… no. It was a really, stupidly big blast of golden energy that I don't know the word to describe the size of. But anyway, he shot this at the mountain and destroyed it in one hit. The mountain was supposed to be some sort of monster that moved in and was disrupting trade or something like that and it refused to negotiate."

Blake's jaw dropped. Yang was being completely truthful. "That's ridiculous."

"It is." Weiss said softly. "But, the Anathema aren't only skilled at fighting. What could you do with an equally impressive political treatise? It would change or destroy any culture you wanted it to."

Blake could feel her heart pounding in her neck. She'd beaten Yang's issues and Ruby's Semblance without exerting that much effort. The skills, the method of warping her Aura into her words, had simply come to her as she continued to read more and more.

"If those are the heights which we know to be possible, then there must be a solution to our current problems within our grasp. And potentially even those of the entire world." Weiss looked into the forest. "However, something does worry me. There were two topics that Tialeth returned to over and over. The blight within Yang's soul and how the world was dirty, broken."

"It doesn't feel dirty or broken to me." Blake nudged the ground with her heel. "It's normal."

"What if there's something that we can't see because we've never experienced anything else?" Weiss grabbed a leaf and rolled it between her fingers. "This is the only world we know and there's so much that's unknown within it. For instance, the issue with astrology that Ruby and Pyrrha have mentioned at lunch. Tialeth spoke of the stars and predicting the future as if it were something that could casually be done and the results could be assumed to be accurate. If she's correct, then there may be even more unknown unknowns that're waiting to blindside us."

Yang chuckled awkwardly. "Umm, about unknowns and Ruby…"

Weiss frowned at her.

"So, we didn't get a chance to tell you this before, but there's something you should know." Yang grimaced. "She can kinda, sorta, hear Aura use."

"What?" Weiss' voice was frigid.

"Like, not just Aura, but also anything else I did."

"Do you have any idea how important that information is?"

"It didn't seem that important."

Weiss rubbed her temples. "That may be the single most important piece of information missing from my model of her actions. It also opens up a host of other dangers."

"What do you mean?

"If she can her Aura, what else can she hear? Can she identify the aspect of someone's Aura? What about the ambient levels which we currently need to use very sophisticated equipment to measure?" Weiss slipped another, unstated, question in. _'What is her current depth regarding her Anathema powers?'_

"I-I don't know."

"Yang." Blake gulped. She could see the continuation of Weiss' chain of logic. Ruby was an incredibly dangerous unknown. Especially because she had that same potential the rest of them did. "I think we need to know this."

"I…" Yang turned away. "I'm not going to spy on Ruby."

"We're not asking you to spy on her, just…" Blake looked to Weiss.

"You can talk to her, take an interest in what's she's doing, like a good sister would."

"It still feels dirty."

"You're the bad girl here." Weiss said offhandedly. If it wasn't for the _'It's a step back from her being an evil demon.'_ that she could read between Weiss' words, Blake would've hit her. But, she could tell it was part of how Weiss wanted to help, in her own way.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Yang nodded slowly. "And, if I'm the bad girl, then I should get something out of it too."

She grinned at Weiss. "So, what'll it be?"

"I supposed I could give you another massage." Weiss matched the grin

"Two messages." Yang paused and licked her lips. "And the first date with Blake."

Blake gave her a look.

"One and a half massages and no promises about dates."

"How do you do half a massage?"

"Top or bottom?" Weiss raised an eyebrow and gestured towards Yangon chest, then her hips.

Blake turned away and shook her head. Though, a part of her, that she was trying very hard to ignore, wondered what that would feel like.

* * *

Ruby poured over the books surrounding her, glancing from 'Applications of Aura Conductive Materials' to 'Principles of Folding-Weapon Design: Advanced Edition rev. 3' to the book that was becoming more her own than Pyrrha's thanks to all of the annotations she'd been making. The first one had been an accident that happened thanks to a surge of inspiration. And once she'd started there didn't seem to be too much harm in continuing since the damage had been done. The trip to Weiss' materials store had given her inspiration, and a huge amount of time to work with it.

Normally, Ruby would have spent days working all of the Dust-Steel that she needed to use by hand. Each gear and spring needed to be re-made to incredibly tight tolerances to make Crescent Rose work properly. If she got them wrong, they'd grind against each other and cost her precious bits of Aura protecting them every time her weapons changed forms. To prevent that, she'd have needed to re-forge most of the components at least once because to a flaw in the metal's Dust mixture or crystal alignment. Instead, she spent an hour sifting through several bins of pre-made gears and had saved herself several days of work.

For a while, she didn't believe that the store could make any money. Then she saw the number of zeroes on the price tag. At that much of a mark up over the price of raw materials, anything was possible. Well, assuming you had enough money.

Ruby doubted she'd ever see that much money herself, but Weiss hadn't balked at any of what she wanted. Even the most expensive by gram item in the store, outdoing even the Orichalcum filigree, a small thimble that looked like heavy-duty steel wire. It was also the center of her current question.

Ruby ran her finger along the loop she'd made and shivered as she infused the metal with her Aura. It was so simple and easy and right. Her Aura poured into it like it was a part of her own body. Even pure Dust, which was the next best thing, didn't respond like it did.

She turned a small section of the wire around a Earth-Dust infused rod that she borrowed from Professor Ozpin's lab and pulsed her Aura into it. It sang to the strings of the world, playing a note that perfectly harmonized with her Aura. She thought of the sounds from one of the Constellations, and pushed again. The tone was sharp and it failed to reverberate properly.

Ruby jotted the result down and looked at the next configuration she needed to try. With each step, she got closer and closer to the right numbers that she would need for her final design for Crescent Rose. She didn't know what would happen if she used the wrong configuration for the new wonder-metal that gave her tingles whenever she touched it, but it felt like a really bad thing.

For now though, she needed a break and a perfect distraction just walked into the library.

"Pyrrha, Ren, over here!" Ruby shouted, drawing a dirty look from the librarian.

"Hello!" Pyrrha waved and walked over immediately.

Ren nodded and finished picking a book off of the shelf.

"You look like you're-" Pyrrha paused when she looked over the table full of tools and books. "Is that my book?"

Ruby blushed and looked away. "It might be..."

Pyrrha leaned over and looked at the current page, which was focused on the equations representing the Ascending Lightning Bolt as manipulated by the phases of the moon. The margins were covered in black and red ink.

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it without responding.

"I was working on using the equations to try and make more predictions, but there are all sorts of factors that just didn't appear right and figuring out what they are matters a lot since I'm trying to work this really cool steel called Starmetal into the new version of Crescent Rose." Ruby babbled while Pyrrha watched her with a slight smile. "You see, no one's really figured out what exactly it's supposed to be good at, besides looking really pretty with the right faces cut, but I had an idea."

"The religious associations for Orichalcum and Moonsilver are very strong, so much so that they're considered divine metals by a large number of people. This-" She held the thimble out to Pyrrha. "-conducts Aura just as well as them and is even harder to come by, but doesn't have a particular association beyond generic good luck or fortune. The Maidens… umm, the Maidens of Fate that is, have that theme in some of the books I found. So, it seemed like something that could be a missing connection. It would also explain why there are no other strong themes for Starmetal. Because, if it was associated with all of them, the aspects which would be relevant to weaponsmithing would be as diverse as all of nature."

She pointed to the small stack she'd taken from the theology section to confirm the associations. The corners of Pyrrha's smile twitched slightly. "I see."

"Anyway," Ruby continued as Ren joined them. "Once I got that in mind, I started experimenting with matching the harmonics of the coil to that of the constellations. It would need a pure tone, exactly matching that aspect of Fate to draw out the metal's full potency."

Pyrrha gulped while Ruby took a breath.

"Once I have the basic forms down, I can replace the channels within Crescent Rose's barrel with the right tone for the Lightning Bolt, the body with the Banner, and the blade with the Spear. It would be a very different from the powerhouse design that called for Orichalcum, but I feel like she'd be much more effective once I figure out how to manipulate my Aura correctly."

Ren looked from Ruby to Pyrrha. "What're you talking about?"

"The fusion of astrology and weapons design." Ruby paused for a moment, watching Pyrrha's eyes carefully. "You get what I meant, right?"

Pyrrha gulped and the pressure built. It wasn't a very strong one, and Ruby couldn't feel any danger. She also didn't know what Pyrrha was thinking, but she'd known a lot before. Ruby gave it a little nudge. _Tell me what you think._

"Truthfully," Pyrrha said softly. She looked right over Ruby's shoulder and gripped her hands tightly. "You lost me about half way through your explanation."

"Oh…" Ruby sank into her chair and sighed. It was just like being back at Signal again. She was even two years behind now and even with that handicap, nobody could keep up with her.

"Your theory is very interesting, but I… I don't know enough to really say anything about it." Pyrrha blushed and turned away. "How long have you spent working on it?"

"About four hours."

"What?" Ren almost dropped his book.

"I… four hours…" Pyrrha blinked at her several times, then pointed at the book. "You did all that in four hours?"

"No, no, no." Ruby shook her head fast enough her bangs smacked her in the face. "That was the past week. I figured out everything with the Starmetal since I got back to Beacon. I uhh… wanted a distraction while I wait for my debriefing with Professor Goodwitch."

"Oh." Pyrrha paused and looked at Ren. Ruby could feel the pressure build and this time it felt like there was a bit of danger in the future. Were they going to not help with the fight against Roman now? Also, why there danger now and not before?

 _With a twirl of her Starmetal wire she strummed the strings of Fate. The possibilities exploded and almost immediately collapsed. She knew what she needed to do to bring everyone together._

Ruby took a deep breath and met Ren's eyes. "I was hoping to see both of you today for a different reason as well. We found a way to do some real good for the kingdom."

He gave her a hesitant nod.

"We found something while we were in Vale. Something dangerous and important." Ruby paused and looked at Pyrrha. She was breathing very shallowly, but her eyes were hard. "If everything goes according to plan, we'll know where the Dust thieves are and where they've been getting enough manpower to steal everything."

Weiss hadn't finished hacking into the scroll yet, but Ruby was sure that they'd find what they were looking for in it.

"Roman Torchwick, Vale's most wanted. He's beaten a number of small teams, but they were normal Hunters. Between the eight of us, I think that we have enough to take him down once and for all."

"Why wouldn't you tell the professors? This should be their responsibility." Pyrrha crossed her arms. "We're just students."

Ruby bit her lip. They weren't just students. They were so much better, but how could she… The idea came to her in a flash. She could be honest, but not quite tell the whole story.

"I saw it in the stars."

Pyrrha's mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. "What?"

"They said that our best chance would be going alone."

"There's no way… That must've taken so much time…" Pyrrha mumbled and the pressure built again.

 _Believe me!_ Ruby shoved as hard as she could, but that may have been a little too hard. She'd pushed over the line where she might start glowing, but wasn't quite at her forehead symbol yet.

"Okay." Pyrrha held her eyes closed and folded her hands in front of her. "It's almost unbelievable-"

"It is unbelievable." Ren cut her off.

"What'd you mean?" Ruby pushed the quiver in her voice down.

"Breakthroughs like that take weeks or months of research, not hours."

Ruby giggled nervously. It had seemed really obvious to her, but she could hear the reactions immediately. "Well, it just sort of came to me. Don't lots of new ideas happen like that? Nothing and then… Poof! Suddenly you have inspiration."

"Not really, especially for complex Aura manipulation." He shook his head and forced the Aura around his palm to become visible. The magenta light was unsteady, erratic and the sound was, if anything, worse. It almost hurt to hear it to this closely. "I've spent the past week working on an advanced technique that I haven't managed to form properly."

"Oh…" Now that she thought about it, Ruby had been figuring out new tricks with her Aura pretty close to every week. "Umm…"

"I may have an idea about what could be the cause," Pyrrha said to the ground. "Do you remember back during our initiation, the symbol that appeared on your forehead?"

Both of them nodded.

"Well, you didn't know what it was then, but now you know of it as the symbol of Mars. I recognized it immediately, but hadn't made any sort of connection." She shifted from one foot to the other. "Last week, I did a reading on you and found something… strange."

"That I was born under all of Mars' Constellations?"

"Yes."

"I don't know actually what that means."

"Neither do I, but between that, the sign, and how easily things related to her seem to come to you. Perhaps she's given you her blessing?"

Ren turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"There are legends of gods bestowing aspects of their power upon mortals." Pyrrha picked up one of the books and flipped through it. "'And so the great lord of the sea did rise from the depths upon a throne of froth. With a grand gesture, the waves rose up and engulfed the girl standing before him. The touch of the sea blessed Mira and she conjured a throne of her own…'"

"That sounds like a Semblance to me. No need to bring gods into it." Ruby shrugged.

"Most scholars would agree with you. But, what if the stories were accurate?" Pyrrha wistfully sighed. "It would provide an explanation for the origin of Aura, along with your own abilities. If a regular god could grant control over the ocean, what would the blessing of one of the highest goddesses provide?"

"You're sure?" Ren watched her very carefully.

"As sure as I can be. There aren't…" Pyrrha cut herself off and shook her head. "I'm willing to believe that this could be true until proven otherwise."

Ren closed his eyes and tapped his fingers on his thighs for nearly a minute. More of the pressure built again, the pulse of danger still ringing in the back of Ruby's mind. She hadn't done enough to dissipate it.

 _Trust us._ Again she pushed with as much force as she could. The world moved, but Ren didn't. Ruby watched his face with her breath held as the danger slowly vanished.

"I'll talk to Nora." He broke into a soft smile when it finally disappeared.

"Whew, thanks." Ruby let the breath out as a sigh. Jaune and Nora would be easy to convince. Now they just needed Weiss to find the location.


	29. Chapter 5-2

Once again, Ruby found herself leaning against the wall outside of a Professor's office. She was also tapping a beat this time, but unlike a week ago, it mattered. The beat of the Gauntlet pounded in her ears while she went over the arguments Blake helped her with and how to best use them. The energy and anticipation burned inside of her, desperate to be released.

She went to her personal session ten minutes early so she could get started as soon as possible. The only problem was that Professor Goodwitch wasn't in her office when Ruby got there. So, she was left waiting in the hallway, half listening to the mutters from other doors. But, no one was talking about anything interesting. It was mostly questions about homework or arguing about grades.

The best conversations came from students and professors who were just walking by, completely ignoring her. It was a little annoying, but it did make listening in easy and gave her something else to look into while she was waiting in the lab. A new Aura-conductive materials science paper from an Atlas lab, the search for a girl who supposedly froze the bay in one of Mistral's coastal cities, and a potential Anathema sighting in uptown Vale: that should get her through most of the work she needed to do tonight. Though, the hallway was deserted so she needed something else to keep her focus up.

Ruby glanced back and forth, making sure that the hall was actually empty. Professor Goodwitch had left her door open, so she couldn't be too far away. Also, there were probably comfy chairs in it and maybe something more interesting to look at than the wall or her scroll. After a moment's consideration, Ruby stepped inside.

The office was almost the opposite of Doctor Ooblecks'. All of her papers were stacked on her desk, instead of strewn everywhere, and every book had a home in a bookcase, rather than being stacked on the chairs. It was all neat and tidy, kind of like the difference between Weiss' part of the room and the rest of the team's. Though, there were two pieces out of place.

A pair of very old books had been left open on one of the side tables. They were obviously written in different languages, but seemed like they were describing the same thing. At least, the big image in the center was the same. Both pages depicted a complicated array and a formula with the same number of characters, even if most of the characters were different.

The images in the margins were a different story. One book had very detailed castle-like pictures. The other had a dog Faunus playing a horn with his butt. Ruby giggled and turned the page of the second book. The next one was a giant cat holding a smaller cat like a gun and aiming at a giant dog. Every other page held something equally silly.

While she was no closer to figuring out what these books were for, she definitely preferred the second. Whoever wrote it looked like they were having fun. Also, it was just like her own notebooks, filled with doodles and random notes that probably only made sense to the owner. She paused on a page with an image that looked like a bunch of doors lined up.

There was something that looked familiar about one of the equations in the margins. She pulled out her scroll and flipped through the long list of notes from that morning. The formula in the book, which thankfully mostly used numbers, was off in the same way that her astrology notes were. She made a tiny scribble next to it, noting the extra constant she'd discovered. It might not be important, but it also might be.

"You're early." Professor Goodwitch stepped into the office and made Ruby jump.

"Ahh!" Ruby spun around, eyes wide.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing! I was just…" Ruby wracked her brain for something that made sense. It took her a couple of moments, just long enough to notice that Professor Goodwitch had brought a plate of cookies, a cup of tea, and a mug of hot chocolate with her. "I was trying to figure out what the things in your books were."

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow and frowned, glancing down at the page. Ruby held her face as still as she could make it. After a short staring contested, Professor Goodwitch blinked and walked to her desk.

"I've been researching a number of ancient spells and attempting to recreate them. Both books refer to the same spell and have almost identical instructions for how to cast it. The mystery comes from how it was developed and utilized because it was created before the kingdoms could reliably communicate." She placed the plate down on Ruby's side and took a seat. "In one version it's known as 'The Calling of Hell-Beasts' and in the other 'An Overly Complicated Way to Make a Great Mess and/or Kill Yourself'."

"Uhh..."

"It's a clever, if morbid, pun in old Vacuan. But, the joke doesn't translate well." She laughed slightly. "The scholar responsible for that particular book had a rather... unique... sense of humor."

Ruby giggled nervously. "Yeah... butt trumpets."

"Quite." She took a sip of the tea. "I have a feeling that your sister would enjoy his work,. That is, if she proves to be capable of learning both sorcery and a dead language."

Ruby thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Yang would love a book of spells with punny names and silly pictures. The way it was described seemed a little worrying though. "Does it work? The spell, I mean."

"From all accounts that I've found, not in any useful manner. If anything appeared, it would scream at the sorcerer, occasionally attack them, and then decompose into bits of its body as if it were a dead Grimm. However, many of the creatures were flesh and blood, so their deaths were much more gruesome."

Ruby shuddered. "Why would you want to do something like that?"

"These creatures had to come from somewhere. If we can fix the problem with the spell, we may be able to call in a small army to face the Grimm or open a passage to whatever location they call home. Either could be an incredible resource."

"However." She closed the door with a wave of her hand. "That's enough about my research. We're here to talk about you and how you feel after the investigation."

Professor Goodwitch folded her hands on her desk and waited. She kept her face completely neutral, looked Ruby in the eyes and continued to wait.

Goosebumps ran up Ruby's neck. Was this a trap? It felt like a trap. The type of thing where she would say something only to get part of it thrown back into her face and all of that other talking meant that she needed to re-remember the arguments.

"Well… I- Ummm," Ruby said slowly, breaking the silence. She hadn't expected to be the one who had to start it. "I think that everything that happened was wrong, should never have happened, and never should happen again. It goes against what we're supposed to be doing and everything I've been taught about how a real Huntress behaves."

Professor Goodwitch nodded.

After another moment of silence, Ruby took a long breath. "My mom, my dad, and my Uncle Qrow, they'd never do anything like that."

She nodded again, though there was a slight hesitation this time.

"They always fought against things that were bad and weren't afraid to call people out when they did something wrong. They were heroes." Ruby clenched her fists. "They put themselves at risk _every day_ because it was the right thing to do. And they would never have stood for someone being left for the Grimm. Not on purpose."

"Your parents were heroes." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "They were beloved by those who knew them and served as a source of inspiration for more Hunters than I can name. They each passed a formal investigation as well. Your mother and your uncle were both investigated twice."

"Just like Weiss."

"Not exactly. You uncle wasn't injured as a part of his and your mother's wounds were far less severe. Hers were confined to one arm and she recovered from them within a week's time."

"It still shouldn't have to happen. No one should be hurt like that."

"No, they shouldn't."

"It goes against everything the we're supposed to stand for!"

"That it does."

"It's-" Ruby tripped over her own words. She had counters for every argument they could think of prepared, but not what was actually happening. "It's just bad. So bad that it stains the souls of everyone involved, from top to bottom!"

Professor Goodwitch nodded, her expression remaining blank.

Ruby stared at her. She tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Is there a problem?" Professor Goodwitch asked.

"Why are you agreeing with me?!" She stood up and shouted. "You're in charge of doing this! Why would you do something that you think is bad?"

Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and met Ruby's eyes. She looked so much older than she ever did in class. "Because it needs to be done."

"I can't believe that! There has to be something else you could do instead."

"I could leave the investigations to others, wipe my hands of all responsibility. However, if I did so, then I would not be able to have an effect on what occurs during them."

"Then you're guilty of torturing people!"

"Yes. I am." She took another sip of her tea. "As are all of the other professors who review cases at Beacon and the joint-kingdom standards committee."

"And you're okay with this?"

"Not in the slightest, but participating, having some method of controlling the outcome, is better than the alternative." Professor Goodwitch stood up and walked over to a bookshelf. "Ruby, how do you think these investigations were performed in the past?"

"Considering what Doctor Oobleck's said, more direct torture."

"That's correct: witch hunts, torture, and political purges. Before we had a system, it fell to individual Hunters, many of whom had not been trained to perform these tasks, to determine the guilt of the person in question. Before that, they were inquisitors who often knew nothing of the accused and had a large incentive to seem effective, even if they had not found one for years. It became a political tactic to accuse someone in hopes of them being removed." She pulled a book titled 'Anathema Myths and Ancient Interrogations' from the shelf. "Sixty years ago, there would have been a decent chance that your sister would have been killed the day she displayed her Semblance. In the decade leading up to the Great War, this would have been almost a certainty."

"Why?"

"Because of where you grew up. The island of Patch was very remote at that time. It lacked the infrastructure and resources of mainland Vale and, as a result, could not perform in-depth investigations under controlled conditions. Cases were decided entirely by local magistrates and they needed to take drastic measures to ensure that an Anathema was dealt with before it could become a problem. Especially considering the political turmoil at the time." She flipped to the middle of the book. "At the end of the Colorless Period, the Empire was in dire straits. Rebellions were becoming more and more frequent while the Empress bled her coffers dry trying to keep control of the inner provinces. She left the outer ones, including Patch, to fend for themselves."

"That doesn't make what's happening now right."

"No, but the current state of affairs are better than they could have been."

"Weiss almost died."

"Which is a better result than her actually dying."

"She should never have been put in that situation."

"I agree."

"Then why did you approve it?"

"Because there are times when there are no good choices and you need to take the least bad option."

"What do you mean?" Ruby felt pressure building. She smashed it as hard as she could. _Tell me why you did it!_

"Miss Schnee is in a very unique situation where we needed to put her under more scrutiny than any other candidate that has passed through Beacon since I became a professor." She shook her head slightly. "To answer the question of why, I have a question for you. Where could an Anathema do the most damage? What position in society?"

"Head of a combat school," Ruby answered immediately. "They can control the instruction of new Hunters and mess with their heads until they think the Anathema are good."

"In both Vale and Vacuo, you would be entirely correct. The heads of the respective academies wield incredible influence over the affairs of their kingdom's Hunters and this is why we look into Hunter candidates more heavily than any other. But, there are other major players in Atlas and Mistral which would be more tempting targets. Primarily because the academy leaders are under so much scrutiny." Professor Goodwitch held open a list of suggested methods of gathering confessions. Ruby flinched away after the second one. "In Atlas, the other seats of power are within the military and the corporations that supply the military. One of the largest of which, Miss Schnee is going to inherit."

Ruby gulped. She didn't know enough about Atlas to confirm or deny anything. And there that thought was again.

"As both head of the SDC and a trained Huntress, she would be placed in a position of almost unprecedented power and influence. It would be as if Professor Ozpin were both the headmaster of Beacon and a member of Vale's council."

"That's why you did it?"

"Yes, we had to be as sure as possible in the face of such a potential threat. Her potential influence, when combined with her knowledge of the system, meant that the most severe options were allowed."

"That's-" Ruby was cut off by her scroll buzzing. It vibrated loudly against her jacket buttons. She laughed awkwardly and waited for it to stop. The pause gave her time to think, to plan.

Professor Port had been really broken up over what happened. Professor Goodwitch seemed to hate it too. Professor Ozpin avoided the topic whenever she tried to bring it up, though she had no clue why. There was no danger whenever she tried to talk to him. He also didn't seem like a bad guy, so… So she was sort of stuck.

 _The paths before her exploded into a rainbow of different colors. There were so many options, so many different things that she could do. But, she looked at the one which got her to her answer in a way that would leave her, and her team, the best off._

"Sorry about that." Ruby took a deep breath. "I came here with a plan to try and convince you that everything that happened was terribly wrong and needed to get changed… But..."

Ruby waited for Professor Goodwitch to respond. After a few seconds it became obvious that she wasn't going to.

"But, it seems like you agree with me, for the most part." Ruby paused again, glancing at the book of techniques. "So, if you also think it's bad… Why haven't you made it better?"

"I can't."

"Then get Professor Ozpin to do it! He trusts you, doesn't he? You should be able to stop this."

"He can't either." She adjusted her glasses. "No individual is granted that much control over the standards and processes. All updates and modifications must pass through a large committee which is built from various members of each kingdom that are forbidden from directly communicating with each other. They must send messages through other people, who don't know the identities of other links in the chain who are too far removed from themselves."

"What?"

Professor Goodwitch levitated a piece of chalk over to a small chalkboard. She drew several large circles, then other smaller ones. Lines were drawn from large to medium, medium to small, and small to small; but not large to large or medium to medium. Each of the large circles had multiple links to the other large ones that passed through different mediums and smalls. "Each committee member sends encrypted messages through intermediaries who must re-transcribe the message and continue passing it along the chain. When a proposal is made, it must pass through all of the members before it can be voted on and requires a super-majority to enact."

"That sounds really slow and complicated."

"It isn't meant to act quickly. The system was designed to defend against Anathema infiltration or interference. If any individual node on the chart fails, then there are a large number of connections which can notice the failure and implement containment procedures. If a message gets intercepted and changed, then this will be detected when the originals are received at the end point."

"Why are you telling me this? Isn't any information about how the investigations work dangerous for me?"

"You already know most of the facts that would result in an increased risk to yourself and the current members are a matter of public record. Their visitors are screened thoroughly and knowledge of how the system operates can be found in many textbooks." She levitated the book back to the shelf.

"More people are going to find out. I could tell the entire school and post everything I know online. They wouldn't stand for something like that."

"So long as they believe that they or their loved ones would never be investigated, there is an enormous amount that most people will tolerate." Professor Goodwitch shook her head and sighed. "And if you were to spread that information, you would harm countless innocents who did not know enough to look away."

Ruby punched the desk and held her eyes closed. Her entire body shook while she held herself back. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

"However, there is another way you can help."

Ruby blinked the water from her eyes and looked up.

"After you graduate, become involved. Serve in the review board that determines what is permitted for a given investigation. We need more Huntresses with a strong sense of justice. You could do so much more by acting as a voice of restraint and compassion."

"No," Ruby said as firmly as she could. "I'll never serve a… a…"

She searched her mind for the right words. The phrases that Weiss and Blake used in their really nasty arguments. There were so many that one had to be useful.

Ruby's tension fell away when she realized the right one. "I would never work for a soulless bureaucracy that just thinks about people in terms of how much danger they could be."

Professor Goodwitch's eyes briefly grew wide in response to the almost direct quote from Yang's mother. She returned to her normal, slightly stern look. "I understand."

Ruby's scroll buzzed again. She ignored it and kept her eyes locked on the professor's. Why did she keep agreeing? She should be fighting! But… If Weiss, Pyrrha, and even her parents defended this monstrosity when it hurt them, what would people who never experienced it say? She'd need to convince so many people that it was wrong. Or… maybe not. Visitors were screened, but if no one could remember her, maybe she could do something.

""You don't have to make a decision now. But, I do hope that you keep other ways you can help in mind for the future." Professor Goodwitch waited for a moment. "Do you have anything else that you want to discuss?"

"Not really." Ruby pulled her scroll out. Weiss was the caller. "Umm…"

"Do you understand more about what happened and why it did?"

"Yeah… I get it now. It's wrong, but it's not anyone's fault. And at the same time, it's everyone's fault." Ruby glared at her scroll when another idea struck her. "There isn't any other way? Something that doesn't involve hurting people?"

"The Anathema need to be pressed to reveal themselves. Some form of pain, whether physical or mental, is necessary."

"What about just reading their Aura signatures for Anathema signs or colors?" The buzzing stopped.

Professor Goodwitch hesitated for a moment. "We don't have the technology to do something like that."

"It would require those incredibly rare individuals whose Semblances allow them to sense Aura directly. Unfortunately, each of them has reported perceiving Aura in a different manner, so they wouldn't be able to share results easily, if at all." She shook her head. "Having one person present for every investigation, just in case they manage to figure out what signs to look for, would be impractical logistically and would paint an enormous target on that person's head. And when they die, we would have to go back to square one."

Ruby groaned as Weiss started calling again. "Umm, can I take this?"

"Yes, you're free to go." With a wave of her hand, the door opened. "But, please bear what you say to others in mind. And, if you have any other ideas, I would be happy to hear them."

"Thanks." Ruby stepped outside and answered her scroll. "Hey Weiss, what's-"

"Yang and Blake went back to Vale."

"Uhh…"

"With their combat clothing and weapons," Weiss practically growled. "They're approaching the address I found in the girl's scroll as we speak."

"I'll be right there." Ruby narrowly avoided Professor Ozpin as she hung up and started running. "Oops, sorry."

"There's no problem, just be more careful in the future." He smiled softly. "Are you feeling better?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment. She spent a lot of time preparing for an argument that didn't actually happen. Her real enemy was a cloud of connections that she knew nothing about and couldn't really affect. But now she had a target, a real target, and knew at least one person who might be able to tell her where to go next… If she could only find her again.

That was not going to be a fun conversation to have with Yang.

"Ruby?" Professor Ozpin asked.

"Sorry, thinking… Umm…" Ruby took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling better."

"That's good."

"Thanks… I've gotta get going." She waved as she ran back towards her dorm room.

Professor Ozpin didn't move until Ruby was almost out of sight. He smiled lightly before turning into Professor Goodwitch's office.

* * *

Ruby dashed back to the room as quickly as her Semblance allowed her to, taking corners by running on the wall rather than slowing down. Stopping by the workshop to pick up a sword had eaten up enough time already. It wasn't a very good sword, but it was close enough in size to the one her Uncle Qrow used that it shouldn't be too unfamiliar. Though the extra bulk hanging off of her back did wind up almost knocking someone down during her mad dash.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted as her partner came into view. She was all decked out with Dust and had Ruby's travel bag held out for her. Ruby slipped her arm through the straps as she stopped. "Where are they?"

"Near the northern docks." Weiss showed Ruby a map of Vale on her scroll. A yellow and black dot hovered near the river.

"Whoa, how'd you get it to do that?" Ruby didn't have a good team location map on her scroll and she was the team leader.

"I hacked their scrolls and installed a tracking program."

"You what?" Ruby shouted. "How? Why?"

"I did it weeks ago, when I was trying to determine where they were going at night. Why do you think I reminded all of you about security when we went to the city?" Weiss said flatly and started to walk away.

"I- You can't just do that!" Ruby pulled her scroll out and started looking through the apps, keeping her eyes out for anything out of place. "Did you do it to mine too?"

"Yes."

Ruby felt her cheeks grow hot. What else had Weiss seen? "So then you know…"

"It only transmits your location. I don't care about what you browse in your spare time."

"Whew." Ruby wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead. Her secret 'team leader only' notes were safe... Safeish. They weren't bad per se, but they were really blunt about everything that the others were doing wrong or could do better. The most recent one, written right before the investigation, was about how Weiss was falling behind the rest of team RWBY in sparring class. "Um, I mean, I have nothing to hide."

Weiss shook her head and continued walking.

"Hey, wait!" Ruby pulsed her Semblance to catch up. "We still need to grab team JNPR."

"Are you sure?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. _"It would take a lot of time."_

"Hmm." Ruby considered it. _The fight would also be very dangerous for them._ Jaune was still really bad at fighting and they wouldn't have enough time to prepare. Though the solution was easy enough to find.

 _The various options expanded in front of her. There weren't that many to look through._ "No, our best chance is still bringing them along."

"How are you so sure of that?" Weiss stopped and caught Ruby's eyes.

"Well," Ruby drew the word out while she searched for a good excuse. Though maybe the truth wouldn't be bad. There was no danger when she thought about. "Would you believe that the stars told me?"

"Is that what you and Pyrrha have been doing?"

"Sort of…"

"Then yes, I would believe you if-"

"Really!"

"Don't interrupt." Weiss flicked Ruby's forehead. "I would believe you if you actually had the time to perform the hour long rituals that Pyrrha spoke about."

"Umm…" Ruby gulped. Weiss was giving her the 'I'm about to start an argument' look. "What if I told you that I might have been blessed by one of the big, important goddesses in Mistral?"

Weiss crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Umm, you see. Me and Pyrrha think that-"

"Pyrrha and I"

"Right, Pyrrha and I were talking about how the sign on my head is the same as the sign associated with Mars and the color of my Aura is also the same." Ruby left off the constellations all having the same colors as well part because it was too hard to explain. "And we found out that there are old legends of weaker gods blessing people with things that they can do. All of the Maidens have things like seeing the future in their themes and Mars also has all sorts of fighting related ones. So, I can…sorta just figure all of that out faster because it involves fighting?"

Ruby was painfully aware of the sweat running down the back of her neck while Weiss continued to watch her very carefully. She focused slightly and could hear her partner's Aura singing with power.

"That is a very interesting theory. It would also be neigh impossible to test. However," Weiss said slowly. Her Aura pulsed again as she continued, _"what would you do if you met someone else like that?"_

The words lingered on her ears for much longer than they normally would. Ruby turned the question over and over. There were so many other questions that it led to. Would she even be able to remember them? What themes would they take? She knew what the other Maidens would sound like, but hadn't put any thought into what the blessings would actually do. Let alone what other gods might grant people.

"I'm not sure." Ruby looked at Weiss again. Was she hinting at what it sounded like she was? "But, are you…"

Ruby let the question fall away while Weiss started walking. Every one of her movements was practically screaming 'not now'. When Ruby paid a little more attention, she could also hear the pulsing of Jaune's Aura coming towards them. It was quieter, but he still hadn't gotten it under control.

"There they are." Ruby dashed past Weiss and turned the corner to find Jaune and Ren staring out of the window.

"Jaune I-" Ruby ended her dash next to him, but cut herself off when she saw what was happening. If she didn't know any better, it looked like Cardin Winchester was standing between a pair of upperclassmen and a boy with tusks. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Jaune shook his head.

Ruby focused on the arguing group, picking up what they were saying from their lips. He actually was defending the Faunus.

"Haven't you heard, they're off limits now. So get lost." Cardin loomed over them and cracked his knuckles.

"What are you looking at?" Weiss caught up and peered over Ruby's shoulder. "Oh, him."

The four of them watched as the argument finished with the other students backing off.

"What just happened?" Ruby continued to stare at the courtyard.

"He's trying to salvage the remaining scraps of his reputation." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course, it would be more effective if he actually cared about the Faunus students. But instead-"

Weiss gestured to Cardin walking away. He slapped one of their classmate's books out of her hands as he went back inside. He also didn't help the Faunus boy up.

"He's just picking on what are now acceptable targets." Weiss stepped back.

"Is that better?" Jaune turned to her.

"Technically yes."

"Ahh, okay…" Jaune slid a little closer to them. "So what're you doing tonight?"

"Ruby." Weiss cut him off. "Please explain."

"We need your sword. Right now." Ruby pointed at Jaune's belt.

"I-Uhhh… Ababab…" Jaune's cheeks grew bright red while he babbled. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We need to get to Vale a.s.a.p. and catch up to Yang and Blake." Ruby looked to the side at Ren. "Did you tell him about our mission yet?"

"I was about to, but..." Ren gestured at the window.

"Gotcha. We can talk while we grab the others." Ruby grabbed Jaune's arm and started walking.

"I-but… You're really cute and all, but I really don't… Umm, know you…. So that's..." He stammered while Weiss laughed into her hand.

Ruby groaned, pulled his scroll from his pocket, unlocked it with a single swipe thanks to there being no password, and navigated to the 'I forgot about Ruby again' note. Then she handed it to him. "Read this while we find Pyrrha and Nora. I'll explain everyone's role once we're in the air."


	30. Chapter 5-3

Finding the right warehouse, without letting their enemies know someone was searching for them, took barely any time. Most of the White Fang had never learned any degree of subtlety when Blake left and that seemed to still be true. They didn't stand around in uniform, but they still stuck to their own groups and used the same guard patterns. Three younger teens sat at a corner playing cards, their swords on their belts. An alley down, two older women had guns ready, watching the kids with a strategically placed mirror.

Blake kept to the shadows that had fallen since sunset and crept along a wall that wasn't due for another patrol for several minutes. She skipped from brick to brick, catching an edge with a toe and pushing off as if it was a solid floor. At the top of the wall, she kicked off, landing on the roof across the street. Her Aura muffled her landing, heels silent on the metal roofing. The lock on the roof entrance fell in a single strike from her blade.

Moments later, she was in.

The rooms in the warehouse were almost entirely lit up, despite it being after dark and the Faunus not needing much light to see. It was the first strike against her hope that they'd been wrong. She slid into a supply closet and pulled out her scroll.

 _I'm in. Are you in position?_ She texted to Yang.

 _I'm in whatever position you want me to be._ The response was almost immediate.

Blake tapped her forehead against the wall while her scroll buzzed again. Yang had sent her a set of images. She hesitated for a moment, then opened the first. It was a picture of the front of the warehouse. The rest of the various pictures were of White Fang patrols... Which implied that Yang was somehow taking pictures, in what looked like plain sight, without being noticed.

 _Seriously though, I'm as close to right out front as I can get._ Yang sent another message, with another picture. This one was a high angle shot of her hiding behind something. The shot was centered on her chest.

Blake let out a breath. She'd been worried that Yang wouldn't be able to navigate through the alleys, even with the White Fang locations pointed out. The plan, which Yang didn't like very much, was for them to get the information without needing to fight. If they really needed to, then they could, but it would be much better to find out what was happening without anyone discovering them. Of course, that all relied on there being actual information in the warehouse.

With her scroll silenced, Blake slunk out of the closet and continued her advance. She stopped at each door, pausing to listen to the conversations within. Most of them, like many things that people spoke about, were worthless. They were personal and only mattered to the people involved.

She found only two potentially useful places to listen in. The first was a woman chanting in a strange language that she'd never heard before. But at the same time, it sounded awfully familiar. She listened for a short time, all while watching the hallway. Someone had hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the knob, which had originally belonged to the Blue Light Inn from the monogram at the bottom.

The second was a man complaining over the sounds of heavy typing. The room also happened to be placed so that it would overlook the warehouse floor. Blake crept up to the edge of the door to listen in.

"-course they have to be two blocks from the cops. Stupid animals'll just get caught if I send them there. Not that Junior's boys were any better." The man chuckled and sighed. "What does it take to find good help in this town? You'd think my name would be worth something by now."

Blake tightened her grip on her blade. There had to be some sort of mistake. The White Fang she knew would never let that type of language go, let alone work with someone who used it.

 _She opened her ears to the hidden truths between his words and waited._ So much of what he said was petty insults or thinking aloud about why a given business was a bad target. But, there was an undercurrent of tension beneath the racist complaints, a desperate search to please someone who awed and terrified him. All signs pointed to the chanting woman as the source of his worry and he had no idea what she was doing.

Was that the missing connection? He never described her animalistically, so she probably wasn't a Faunus. But, if she had him that worried, he might not want to risk her hearing him say anything bad about her. Some of the other leaders of the White Fang were more willing to work with humans than Adam. That would fit with everything Blake knew about the situation so far. It would also give the alliance an easy head to remove.

She stepped away from the door and started back down the hall when a sound came from the office. Someone had opened another door and stepped into it. Probably a girl by the sound the person's heels made.

"What happened now?" he groaned.

All Blake could make out was the sound of cloth brushing against cloth in response.

"They're doing what?"

A chair slid out and he stomped to the other side of the room. The other person followed him out.

Blake waited for several seconds, listening carefully for the sound of anyone else present, before cracking the door open. It was an office, just like she'd expected, and it overlooked a floor filled with tables. Members of the White Fang, some wearing masks and some not, were sorting through different types of Dust at each of them. While watching them was important, also the person who was unmistakably Roman Torchwick, it paled in comparison to the rest of the room. There was a lot of information here: folders, files, and a computer.

Blake skipped over to the screen and smiled when she saw that he hadn't locked it. Her fingers flew over the keyboard and mouse, searching for the most damning evidence that she could find, and there was a treasure trove. Blueprints, Hunter patrol routes, special police frequencies: Roman had so much information that he should never have been able to get. But, most of it wasn't very useful for Blake. They needed his plans for the future, so they could trap him where he least expected it.

Of course, when she plugged her transfer cable in, the computer didn't respond. Blake tapped the mouse a couple of times while she considered her options. She didn't know that much about computers, living outside of the kingdoms for most of her life meant she never worked with them too much. But, when she focused on the language used in the menu options, the way through revealed itself.

Blake quickly found what options she needed to open this one up. With the machine open, she plugged her scroll into the computer and copied entire folders whenever one of the files inside felt suspicious. With enough data for his past plans, they should be able to figure out what he'd do next.

With that in mind, and enough files transferring that it would take several minutes for them to finish, she crept up to the window. Blake focused her Aura and forced herself further into the darkness, removing her from sight, hearing, any form of perception that she knew of. With her scroll barely above the window line, she didn't have a very long cable, she snapped several pictures of the warehouse, the people inside of it, and the conspicuously annotated map on the wall.

Meanwhile, Roman was berating a group of Faunus who were... Blake forced her eyes closed and sighed. They were standing near a makeshift shrine of bloodstained claws surrounding a circle of silver. She'd seen enough services to know it was dedicated to the Bloody Huntress, the most violent aspect of the moon goddess, Luna.

"What is that?" he shouted, two of them flinched away.

"It's a shrine. For victory in our hunt," One girl growled at him.

"Don't bother praying for salvation. No one's listening." Roman rolled his eyes and tapped the circle with his cane. "If you really want to win, then keep sorting ammunition."

He shook his head and waved them off. A very short girl, wearing an equally expensive outfit, followed behind him. She shrugged in a very exaggerated motion and rolled her head to one side with a vicious smirk. A finger twirled around her necklace, pulling it tight.

"Wouldn't that be a sight, their own god turning on them like that."

Blake checked her scroll once more when their footsteps were approaching the room. It still hadn't finished transferring. The copying bar was moving way too slowly. She forced herself to remain still and neither drum her fingers nor tap her heel. All she needed to do was minimize all of the dialogue boxes on the computer, hide her scroll behind it, and wait for him to get pulled away by something else.

She held her breath as the pair walked in. Their eyes passed over her hiding place on top of a filing cabinet in the corner, but neither reacted to her presence. They went on with their half-silent dialogue as if nothing strange was happening.

The girl mimed claws on one hand, then ran her nails across the other wrist with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Roman sank into the chair. "But do they have any idea how hard it is to find an animal-doctor with training like that? Let alone one willing to work with the raging bull."

 _'Adam Taurus is demanding the impossible.' Blake listened to the meaning she didn't want to hear, but did anyway because she needed to be certain._ She stifled a gasp and clenched her hands. He really had fallen this far, betrayed everything that they'd stood for.

The girl stepped up to the chair and leaned over him. She navigated to a page about a medical school in the Menagerie.

"That's a long way away, Neo." Roman folded his hands over his cane and drummed his fingers. "But, it might just work."

Neo stepped back and took a deep bow.

"We could give Doctor Merlot a call. I'm sure he has space for a new assistant," Roman said. "And, if the old bastard's still sore about his last shipment, I'm sure I can find someone to prove our point. Again."

Neo grinned and clapped her hands very quickly. She mimed thrusting some sort of knife into someone's back, up and under their rib cage from the look of it. Blake flinched when she saw the happy smile on the girl's face.

"We'll just need to pay him a visit before you leave, but for now…" Roman leaned forward with a mad grin on his face. Neo got up on her toes, matching him in intensity. He stayed silent for a moment before continuing, "have you finished your homework?"

Neo's grin fell to an uneasy frown. Then, a moment later, a deep pout. She crossed her arms and shook her head while he cackled maniacally. The look made her seem almost young enough to actually have to do homework. Despite her stature, Blake would have guessed the girl as much older than herself, given how she moved and dressed. She had a degree of confidence and control, without too much arrogance, that Blake hadn't seen in any student at Beacon.

The girl pulled Roman's bowler hat down over his eyes and stomped away in a ridiculously exaggerated manner. But, when she was at the door and he had his hat back on, she turned around and they shared a smile. It was sort of sweet, in a terrifying and utterly unfair manner. Why did these two, criminals who were talking about stabbing someone like it was fun, get to enjoy themselves when so many good people were suffering every day?

Blake swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat. She needed to be patient. Roman Torchwick, and his accomplices, were Vale's most wanted. They'd get what was coming to them soon enough. All she needed was for the files to finish transferring and for him to need to use the bathroom sometime soon.

She just needed to wait… but it was agonizingly slow. The seconds ticked by as Roman fiddled with the computer, boxes were loudly placed down on the warehouse floor, and Blake's own heart beat was the only reliable source of keeping time.

"Come on." Roman muttered soon after working for a couple of minutes. _The source of his confusion became apparent with deeper listening. 'What's wrong with this thing?'_

Blake went for her weapon.

"This is taking forever." _'It wasn't like this five minutes ago.'_ Roman spun in his chair while the site loaded. She relaxed slightly while he waited, but pulled half of the blade free when he started clicking again.

"What the? Copying files? Eighty-nine percent?" Roman sat straight up and glanced wildly around the room, eyes widening as they met her hiding place.

Blake moved with a swiftness she had only shown two others, muscles driven by motions shed' practiced until they became second nature.

 _"Silence them before they raise the alarm." She recalled Adam's advice, his actions when they needed to stay silent. For all of his personal flaws, he was a better teacher than anyone else she'd learned from._

She drew her katana and charged the blade with Aura in a single smooth motion. In mid air, she swung at him, blade inching closer and closer to his throat. It bit into his arm first, most of the power that would've prevented Roman from speaking being blocked.

Blake turned as she landed to his side, her spine twisting past human limits to generate more power. Before Roman could catch his balance, she kicked off the ground. The second strike came out of the spin, snapping at the side of his head as she flipped in the air. Again, he got his arm in the way.

That was no accident, his reflexes were as good as a trained Huntsman. She drew further on the power dwelling within her soul, forcing herself to move faster and faster. The end of her ribbon cracked as it looped around itself and slipped over his head.

He tried to shout, but she held the ribbon taut from behind him. He wouldn't be able to breathe while his Aura slowly drained as it struggled against the pressure. He struggled, threw punches and elbows, but she slipped to the side of each blow. When he went for his cane, she kicked the end away, making the top fall to his feet.

 _"Blake, just kill him."_ Another memory from that mission, when she was in exactly this scenario. It was right before the end of her life as a… Come to think of it, she didn't know if there was a word to describe herself prior to becoming Anathema.

While she thought, he still tried to break free. She dodged each attempt and pulled tighter. He groaned from the increased force.

 _"He's abused our kind for too long. No one will miss him!" Adam shouted._

Blake clenched her teeth. Back then, she let go too soon. The man had still been dangerous, still been able to fight. Now, she wouldn't make the same mistake. She'd hold Roman until he went still and… and then…

Roman Torchwick was a racist and a murder. He was Vale's most wanted. No one would judge her if she did it. They might even celebrate her. But… if she did...

He raised his leg high, Blake stepped back to dodge the stomp, but he wasn't aiming for her foot. His heel fell on the top of his cane.

A Dust shot fired at the window.

* * *

She saw red.

Bright red light shone everywhere because the streets near the docks were way too dark and Ruby needed to be able to see if she wanted to find Blake and Yang. There were only two problems: Weiss, and team JNRP, couldn't see the red light, also there were too many bugs. She'd been expecting some, the alleys were kind of dirty, but this was as bad as it was in the Forever Fall.

They really liked flying right in her face too.

"I'm still saying," Jaune whispered while they continued advancing on Yang's blip on Weiss' map, "I can fight."

"Jaune, we've been over this," Ruby groaned. "We need someone positioned high up to make sure that we know where Roman's escaping from and help us find him again."

"I know, but…" Jaune pulled his sword half from his sheath and stared at it while they walked. "I'm so close."

"If you want, I could help you with it tomorrow." Pyrrha reached out for him, but didn't actually touch his arm.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but meditating like you said doesn't feel right."

"Which techniques have you tried?" Ren stepped up as well. "A different style may work better for you."

"Ohh, you said it feels warm, right? Maybe if we light you on fire, you'll understand your sword better!" Nora pulled a lighter out of her bag and held it against his hoodie.

Ruby giggled then froze. Goosebumps ran down her back and a chill wind tore through the street. Something bad, really bad was going to happen soon. She turned to the others and strummed the chords of Mars like she did during their initiation. Petals streamed from her and swirled around them. All five went silent.

"Stay on your toes, I've got a bad feeling about something." She searched the street for anything which looked out of place. "I'm going to go ahead, catch up as soon as you can."

Ruby pulsed her Semblance and dashed off before she could hear any complaints. There was something bad coming and she needed to find Yang before it found , that should be easy. Yang was nothing if not easy to find.

Actually, she was incredibly easy to find. Ruby glanced into the alley and spotted her almost immediately. She was on a fire escape, 'hiding' behind the solid wall at the corner. It could barely be called being sneaky, but somehow it took a second glance to notice her. But that didn't matter.

Ruby launched herself up in a burst of petals, landing next to her sister. Yang stood up with a start and glanced warily at her.

"Yang, what're you doing?" Ruby whispered.

"How did you find me?"

"Weiss did it."

Yang made a face. It was halfway between frowning and excitement, but looked so silly Ruby had to hold her breath to not laugh at her.

"Why did you come here without us? We were supposed to wait and do this as a team," Ruby whisper-yelled.

"We're just scouting it out… and… and uhh…" Yang gulped and Ruby felt the pressure build. She slammed against the world and it slammed back. Yang winced and rubbed her left temple.

"We had a plan, a plan that everyone agreed was a good one, and now I don't know if it's going to work anymore." She could feel the danger building from this path, but it needed to be said. There was a bigger threat looming over them.

"Blake's just getting information. She'll be in and out without any problems."

"There a huge amount of danger that..." Ruby sighed when Yang shot her a confused look. Did she not understand why doing this was a really big deal? "Yang, is something else going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since the investigation, you've been acting really weird. I thought that it was just the stress, but now…" She laid her hand on Yang's shoulder and felt the incredible amount of tension. Her muscles were shaking as they fought against themselves.

"Ruby, please." Yang's voice shook as well.

"Yang, something's obviously wrong. If you need help, or even just want to talk about it, I'm here."

"Nothing's wrong." Yang's entire body was shaking now. "Just drop it, please."

"I can't just drop it. When it was just you being weird, that would be one thing. But it's not." Ruby grabbed Yang when she tried to turn away. "This, what you and Blake did, is really dangerous. We needed everyone to be healed and ready, but you two ran off without us."

"Shut up," Yang said through clenched teeth. She tried to pull away, pressing her back against the nearby railing. "Shut up."

"Yang Xiao Long." Ruby adopted the best 'angry mom' voice that she could. "I am your team leader and your sister. Something is obviously hurting you if you're acting like this and-"

"I'M NOT GOING TO!-"

"-I am not going to-" They yelled simultaneously, but Ruby continued on. "-let you, my sister, stand there in pain!"

The warning of danger dissipated.

Yang went slack in Ruby's arms, torso leaning over the open air. The life, the passion, the energy in her eyes was gone.

"Fuck it." The words escaped Yang's lips as a whisper. "I'm damned anyway."

"Y-Yang?" Ruby gasped and fumbled. Yang slipped further over the railing. It felt like she got heavier and heavier, even without anything moving.

"All of us are. It was just a matter of time."

"Yang, you… Help!" Ruby pulled as hard as she could, but she couldn't make any progress. The rusty railing groaned and buckled.

The sisters tumbled off of the fire escape. They hit the ground hard enough to shatter the concrete, Ruby landed on top of Yang.

"Yang, Yang!" she cried out, shaking Yang's shoulders as a number of other people yelled. "What're you…"

"It's over…" Yang mumbled, head lolling to one side.

"Ruby!" Weiss skated towards them on her glyphs, sword drawn. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Yang... she... she just." Ruby's hands shook and the corners of her eyes burned.

"Ruby, what did you do?" Weiss looked from Yang to Ruby and back.

"You hurt my head." Yang mumbled again.

"I… I…" Ruby stammered as she thought back to moments ago. The danger that she'd been feeling, it wasn't their enemies, at least not all of it. It was her, she was the one who was going to hurt her sister.

She left go of Yang and looked at Weiss. There was a tension building up around her, a pressure as she tried to make a decision.

Ruby's blood ran cold.

She didn't push on the world as hard as she could, she pushed on Yang. She'd been doing that to her friends this entire time and… She glanced down at her sister's motionless form. Yang was breathing so shallowly that Ruby could barely see it.

Ruby felt the truth deep within her soul. This was her fault. She did this. She was the one who pushed Yang over the edge. And the rest of the world could wait.

Weiss was yelling at her, but she didn't pay attention to the words. Team JNPR ran up with worry in their eyes, but she didn't respond. The White Fang members across the street aimed their weapons at her. She didn't care; her Aura could take it.

Ruby took shallow breaths, searching for any sign of the happy, energetic, passionate, even angry sister that she knew. But there was none. The bugs swarmed her, preventing her from making anything else out.

She closed her eyes and turned off the red glow. Each breath felt like she was drawing it through a straw. Tears threatened to escape from her eyes, but she wouldn't let them out. She didn't deserve to cry when she was the one who was wrong. Yang had been pleading for her to stop, she should've listened.

A window shattered and bullets began flying.

Ruby opened her eyes to Blake diving out of the way of an explosive Dust shot. She had her katana drawn and was holding what looked like a rack of hard drives in her other hand. The blast kicked up parts of the road where it hit, Blake smoothly dodged around each of the fragments. Roman Torchwick, and tiny female accomplice, jumped down to the street and he fired another shot at her.

Blake caught the shell with the back of her sword and flicked it at the White Fang members in the other alley. Before she could get back on her feet, she jumped away from… nothing. Just empty air.

Ruby stood up and drew her sword. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora pulled their weapons free as well.

"Weiss, help Blake." Ruby could feel the heat coming back. "JNPR, surround Roman. I'll-"

She caught a glint from one of the windows that shouldn't be there. Ruby shouted, "Blake, up!"

Blake flipped towards them just in time for three glass arrows to pass under her back. The heads embedded into the road and glowed bright orange, then exploded.

The window they were fired from burst outward at the same time, revealing a dark haired woman with a glass bow, dress gilded with Orichalcum channels, and eyes that glowed like fire. The left hand side of her body was coated a dark, gooey liquid.

She glared at Ruby's group while the channels on her dress glowed brighter, the shining light visible even through the goop. Dust flowed around her arms and coalesced into large clouds of sparkling mist.

"She's casting a spell!" Weiss shouted.

Ruby's mind whirled with possibilities. She needed a plan five minutes ago.


	31. Chapter 5-4

"Weiss, Nora!" Ruby called out with a quick gesture towards the sorceress. She pointed, then gave a thumbs down. "Bring her down."

Weiss had already started weaving a ribbon of Earth Dust towards the sorceress. She blasted with a bit more after Ruby's command, the mist surrounding the other woman wavering as soon as Weiss' attack connected.

"Blake," Ruby continued, "hand-off to Weiss then assist."

Weiss was the only member of either team whose style left her with a free hand and Blake had probably used up a lot of Aura already.

"Ren, Pyrrha. With me. We'll take the other two." Ruby stepped free from the alley and sank into her knees. "Jaune…"

Jaune stepped up, eyes bright and sword drawn.

"Keep Yang safe." Ruby forced the stutter out of her voice. She needed to be a leader, not a sad girl who made it so her sister couldn't protect herself.

"I-" Jaune cut himself off and nodded. "Got it."

Ruby pulsed her Semblance at the same time that Nora's grenades hit the wall. The woman staggered and lept from the crumbling floor. While sticking with her team may have been a better idea, Torchwick was an infamous criminal who'd beaten tons of Hunters before and she couldn't recognize either of the other two. That meant he was probably the most dangerous. She, Ren, and Pyrrha were all fresh and uninjured. Also, Torchwick looked like the oldest person there, and therefore, the most experienced. He wasn't old-old, like Ruby's uncle, but still old enough.

She flew past the short girl with the combat parasol, landing behind her target. He had barely started turning around to respond to her when she moved again. The sword in her hands wasn't like Crescent Rose. Its weight was too balanced for Ruby's normal style, but when she had her opponent off-guard, none of that mattered. Weiss, Blake, and Nora could deal with the person who was probably worst in melee while the dangerous target was held back, then they could clean up the rest.

 _Ruby searched for the best attack methods and forced all of them to happen at once._ She split into four girls attacking with four different strikes. He narrowly slipped back from most of them. The final, a straight thrust, caught the edge of his coat and-

He shattered, falling into hundreds of fragments and appearing three feet away at the same time that a bright orange light ignited around the sorceress. Ren, who had been looking right at the light, got hit in the back of the knee by the smaller girl, and launched into the air by her parasol follow up.

Ruby dashed toward Torchwick again. She swung as hard as she could; he parried her blade into the ground and snapped the end of his cane into her face. Red light poured out of it, but his shot flew off course thanks to Pyrrha's interception.

Her spear rocketed into his side at the last possible second. As she approached, Pyrrha snatched it out of the air and smoothly started another attack. Ruby stepped in to join the assault.

She spun the sword into each slash, using the momentum from the previous one to make the next easier. It wouldn't work as well if she ever hit him, but her goal was to force him further into Pyrrha's whirlwind of blades. She must have been getting two or three strikes in for each of Ruby's. Stab, slash, shoot: Pyrrha did all within the span of seconds and each hit brought them closer to taking Torchwick down.

He couldn't strike at them without leaving himself open, but he still managed to keep them from landing anything solid through constantly retreating. If Ruby had Crescent Rose, he'd never have been able to stop her. Instead she was left with a long piece of metal without any sort of extended blade to bypass Torchwick's cane.

But, with him unable to hurt them, they'd eventually take him down.

Which was technically a better place to be than where the rest of the fights were. Ruby caught enough glimpses to let her enough to know she'd messed up.

Ren wasn't able to get anywhere near the smaller girl, but she also kept missing him. His larger reach kept her at a distance, but she flowed around each strike of his, making it miss by a matter of inches and countering with a sharp blow from her umbrella. They danced back and forth, like they were in an exhibition spar instead of a serious fight.

Weiss, Blake, and Nora didn't know each other's styles enough to work well together and their enemy had already figured that out. To make matters worse, the light that hurt to look at was coming directly from the sorceress. A blazing halo of orange light that was almost as bright as the sun encircled her body. Ruby couldn't make her face out at all and her attacks were just as hard to catch, thanks to her glass weapons letting some of the light through.

She focused on Weiss, aiming for her injured leg. The strikes were precise, never using more movement than she needed to. Each flowed into the next while she stepped in with a pair of scimitars, keeping herself inside of Weiss' range and mixing in elbow or knee strikes whenever possible.

It left Nora unable to use her grenades or the full force of her hammer, even before considering the blinding light. Even if Ruby had Crescent Rose, she couldn't say for certain that she'd be able to do much better. A wide, sweeping strike could easily be redirected into an ally when they were that close.

Blake, who hadn't been able to hand off the hard drives, mostly stuck to shooting. But the woman was projecting some sort of flame barrier that stopped the bullets.

The wrong people were in the wrong fights.

Ruby sped her next swing up enough to clip Torchwick. The edge bit into his leg right before be could jump away. Ruby kicked off of the ground with a pulse of her Semblance, emulating a Gravity Dust shot from Cresent Rose. _At the peak of her rotation, she forced the best attack options into existence._

Her quadruplet selves spun into a mouth of blades descending on Torchwick. A raised cane stopped two strikes cold, but left his sides open. Ruby's form hadn't been perfect, one sword was higher than the other. When they connected, they pushed him into the air and over top of Pyrrha who… wasn't ready. Her stance was split, shield toward Torchwick's former position while she spun her sword on the other side. Her blade bounced around like it was hitting something.

Pyrrha followed his arc with a leaping shield bash at… nothing. Her shield struck the ground and her follow up stab against was just thin air, nowhere near where Torchwick's path brought him. Pyrrha brought her guard back up and gasped, "What?"

 _A feeling of danger came from above._ Ruby ducked and spun, changing what would've been a blow to the neck to the shoulder instead. She moved with the hit and used it to slash in the direction of the threat. But nothing was there.

"Pyrrha, what was that?" Ruby moved so she was back to back with Pyrrha. They advanced on Torchwick while he stood up.

"I don't know, but- down!" Pyrrha moved as she shouted. Ruby ducked below the shield flying overhead, twisting under Pyrrha as she lunged at empty space again.

"What's the matter kids? Scared of little old me?" Torchwick spun his cane around one finger and held his arms out wide, asking them to break their stance and charge him. Neither Ruby nor Pyrrha moved. "Or maybe I just need to give you more to care about."

He flicked the end of his cane to the side and fired a Dust shot at the alley.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha turned away, flinging her shield at it, but they were too far away for her to intercept.

 _Danger from the side._ Ruby tried to catch whatever it was, but the attack hit Pyrrha in the back and sent her flying, without Ruby's sword connecting with anything. Roman snapped another shot off, hitting Pyrrha mid bounce. But she kicked off of the ground and landed on her feet.

Ruby pulsed her Semblance to get in place and parried the third shot off to the side. She paused there, listening to the music of the world. They were surrounded, surrounded by a subtle display of Aura. And the source of it was right next to her, unseen to the naked eye.

Ren hit the girl with a quick palm strike, but she shattered.

She appeared before Ruby with a scowl and brought her parasol into a rapier stance. With the flick of a button, a metal spike extended from the top. Her Aura pulsed, then it moved to the side without her body following.

* * *

Jaune got his shield up just in time to catch the Dust shot. It exploded on impact, forcing him back and fanning flames over the edges of his shield. But, none hit Yang.

She was still leaning against the wall where he'd propped her up. It took a bit longer than it should have to move her. It was like those times that his youngest sister, who was still older than him by two years, went completely limp to stop him from getting her off of his bed. Only with someone who felt like she weighed more than team JNPR combined. Which was a little weird, but he had bigger things to worry about, like how his friends were getting their butts kicked and he was left standing behind.

He squinted to catch the other fight. Even if seeing Weiss like that made his breath catch in his throat, it was important to watch.

She tried to use a glyph to push her enemy away again, but the evil woman glided around the edge and spun in with another slash to Weiss' belly. She stepped through, hitting her again and again, ending with a double palm strike to the back that forced Weiss into the path of Nora's next strike. Thankfully, she pulled her hammer to the side at the last second and only smashed the road up some more.

Through all of their sparring classes, Weiss had always been one of the most graceful fighters, quick on her feet and hard to pin down. But now, she was favoring one leg so much that all of the slight hops were impossible. And that woman was taking full advantage of it.

She had to have some sort of weakness or vulnerability. Some sort of opening that they could exploit. But Jaune couldn't see any.

There was one way he could help. If he had to stay here, guarding Yang, then he could at least make the fight easier by watching something smart.

"Blake!" Jaune shouted, waving his sword in the air. "Give me those, you fight."

She lept next to him in a single bound.

"You need to keep these safe. I copied data from some of them, but if we have everything-" Blake kept her eyes on the fight.

"I get it, they're important." He shrunk his shield and grabbed the hard drive rack. "Don't worry about these, just… help Weiss."

She nodded and rejoined the battle, a blade in each hand. Jaune stepped over to Yang and placed the hard drives in her lap.

"Yang, can you keep a hold of these?" Jaune redeployed his shield to cover both of them.

Yang didn't respond.

After a moment of waiting, he grabbed one of her hands and wrapped her fingers around the edge. When they stayed in place, he repeated the motion with her other hand, though, it fell to the ground as soon as he let go.

"Close enough," he whispered as he stood up and looked back at the fight.

Ren and Nora had swapped places with Ruby directing Nora's aim. The two of them sort of chased the small girl with grenades. They kept shooting off to the side of wherever she was. Pyrrha'd shifted to rifle mode and was doing the same. She always seemed to shoot the girl wherever she appeared after the teleport-shatter thing she'd been doing.

"No…" Jaune muttered to himself while he watched the result of another grenade. When the girl appeared again, she was leaping out of the blast. "Not teleporting… illusions."

With that puzzle solved he turned to the other fight. Blake matched the other woman blow for blow, neither seeming to land a good hit. Ren stood by Weiss and deflected any black shards that the sorceress fired. At the same time, Weiss was weaving a blue-white ribbon of energy that ate into the orange halo. Which left…

Jaune raised his shield just in time to block the cane. The end hooked over the lip and with mighty heave, Roman Torchwick yanked Jaune's shield into his sword arm. He followed up with a hard crack to the back of the head, but Jaune was very familiar with the wave of dizziness that came with head blows. He caught the ground with his shield and pushed off with a wide slash.

"I was in the mood for an easier fight." Torchwick hopped back, moving out of range of Jaune's sword. "And I believe you have something of mine."

He pointed at Yang with his cane. Jaune turned his head slightly to look, but got his shield up in time to block the next hit. Two more blows rattled off of it before he forced the man away with a thrust. A thrust that also failed to connect.

"Come on kid, you're in over your head. Just let me take those back and you won't have any more problems." Torchwick smiled. "Don't throw your life away like this."

Jaune gripped his sword so hard it was shaking.

Torchwick stalked to the side, flipping his cane around so he held it by the handle. "What're you going to do to me that your friends couldn't?"

Jaune stepped forward in a flurry of swings, none of which found their mark. Torchwick seamlessly moved from parry to parry, ending with a barely blocked strike at Jaune's knees.

"Is that your best? That girl out there, the young one in the red cloak-" He stepped to the side of another slash. "-She's easily worth five of you. And that's when she isn't cloning herself."

"SHUT UP!" Jaune roared, his sword so hot it was almost burning his hand. He rained blows on Torchwick's cane, steel crashing against steel again and again. The heat built up with each collision, sparks flying and growing in intensity as the smug jerk laughed in Jaune's face.

Jaune pushed his Aura into his sword. Bright flames ignited as he swung, spilling over the cane in a wave of fire and landing on Trochwick's jacket. He jumped away, narrowly avoiding the next attack by jumping back to the entrance of the alley.

"Nice trick kid, but it's not enough." Torchwick took aim with his cane. "I never needed to beat you to win this fight."

Jaune raised his shield to catch the Dust shot. It left the end of the cane on a bee-line to him, but at the last second, Torchwick spun his cane and smacked it off course with the handle. Jaune swiped at the fiery orb as it curved around him, heading towards Yang. But he missed.

Jaune winced as it approached her, glowing bright and brighter until…

She caught it. Her open hand wrapped around the shot as it exploded, the flames seeping into her body while her hair glowed gold.

"Huh…" Roman took aim again. "Let's see if you can-"

Jaune cut him off by throwing a diagonal wave of fire at him. Trockwick leaned to the side to avoid it. Jaune stepped up and flung another, making the criminal step to the side, moving part of the way out of the alley.

As he rushed forward, Jaune glanced towards Ruby and Nora. Nora still had her launcher out, covering the field while Ruby and Pyrrha had the smaller girl almost trapped against a wall. It was perfect.

Even with his first real sword technique, Jaune couldn't beat someone like Torchwick in a straight fight. He could barely even slow him down. But, there was one thing he had plenty of because he was waiting in the back, not getting hit. And all Jaune needed to do was slow him down enough.

"Nora!" he shouted as he threw another wild strike that got blocked. Hopefully she remembered the tactic that had won him the last wargame they played. "Blue-on-blue, fire at will."

Torchwick's eyes went wide, but Jaune pressed forward whenever he retreated. Nora's first grenade came in close to their feet. The explosion threw Jaune into the air, he waved his arms wildly, but managed to land on his feet. He turned towards Torchwick again and charged. The man snapped a shot off at Nora, but that was all the distraction Jaune needed. He leapt through the air, colliding with the man and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Two more grenades rained down, explosions interrupting the cane blows to Jaune's back. Each one bounced them off of the ground, rattling Jaune's teeth. They ended at the wall of a building, where one more blasted them, and the wall, apart.

For several long seconds, all he could see was dust.

Jaune's ears rang while he tried to push himself up. His Aura was still there… technically. Though the enormously heavy weight on his back was doing its best to fix that. With each inch that he moved, the section of brick laying on top of him crumbled a little more, and moving further was even easier.

"Almost there," he said through clenched teeth. Jaune tensed all of his muscles and threw the wall off with one final heave!

Only to end up on his knees, staring down the barrel of Torchwick's cane.

"That's far enough kid." The man stood over him, scowling. His hat was missing and the sleeve of his jacket torn, blood dying the white cloth red. "Too bad ginger snap cared more about keeping you alive than killing me because you're as good as dead."

He gestured upward with his injured hand. "So stand up and none of the rest of you get any smart-"

His cane violently snapped to the side, up and out of his hand as if someone grabbed ahold of the end yanked it away. Torchwick gaped at the flying weapon, mouth opening and closing in disbelief. "What?"

Jaune lunged, bashing him in the gut with his shield and bowling him over. Torchwick hit the ground hard, clenching his stomach and groaning. With another heave, Jaune staggered to his feet.

"Just…" He pointed his shield at Torchwick. "Just stay there."

After picking his sword back up, he looked at the fallen man again. "Actually wait, no. You stand up and come over here."

* * *

Ruby dashed under Pyrrha's shield and slipped another hit past the small girl's guard, only for her to shatter and reappear inches away. Thanks to Nora's grenades, they'd worn her Aura down to the point where she focused her Semblance entirely on defense instead of invisible feints.

Though that didn't make the fight that much easier.

Ruby swung at the same time that Pyrrha bashed with her shield. The girl leaned back, slipped between their attacks, and snapped a kick to Ruby's chest. Without slowing, she rolled over Pyrrha's back and looped Ruby's arm with the end of her parasol. With a surge of Aura based speed, Ruby brought her sword in and smacked the girl's back. But, Ruby still got her face smashed into Pyrrha's forehead.

They bounced apart, Pyrrha barely parrying a parasol thrust from the girl and forcing her across a grenade crater with a flurry of spear thrusts.

Ruby blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The red light was back again even though she wasn't using that technique anymore.

The girl blinked at her, eyes shifting color from brown-pink to pink-brown, and tapped her forehead. Ruby groaned, of course she'd used that much Aura already. She took the momentary pause to listen for the others. Ren and Weiss were barely using their Auras; whereas Blake's was so loud it drowned out everyone except for the sorceress.

Ruby licked her lips and pulled her hood up to hide the symbol. She could ask the world what the solution was, but she was already running low enough that the symbol appeared.

"Pyrrha, Nora." Ruby glanced between them. "Can you handle her?"

The girl looked confused and a little offended. She placed her free hand on her hip and shook her head at them. She was also using her Semblance, but her Aura remained on her body.

"I believe that we can." Pyrrha kept her rifle aimed at their enemy.

"Yeah, we've got this." Nora landed next to Ruby, hammer in hand.

Ruby checked on Jaune. He had Torchwick at sword point, walking over to the alley where Yang was. The cane was still in the middle of the street. At some point, Ruby needed to ask Pyrrha what she did with her Aura when it went flying, but that was a question for later. Jaune's strategy was another one that she had concerns about, even if it seemed to work in the end.

"Right. You know what to do." Ruby stepped back and turned toward the other fight. Blake was the only one in melee. Ren circled with his weapons ready while Weiss had retreated much further. She was forming lots of ice shards from her Dust and waiting.

Even though it made the glowing brighter, Ruby pulsed her Semblance to get into the thick of it as soon as she could. She burst from the crowd of petals with a thrust that was off-handedly batted to the side.

She threw as many strikes as she could without calling in her Aura. None connected with anything except for the woman's blades. The final parry knocked Ruby's sword above her head and opened her up to a kick to the gut. Blake's Aura sang and her form blurred into a double-sword strike to the woman's back that knocked her into an Aura enhanced kick from Ren.

"Can you hold her off for a bit?" Blake asked in between shots from the pistol part of her weapon, each of which got burned up by the flame barrier.

"Weiss?" Ruby glanced at her partner.

"I'm ready." Weiss stopped spinning Dust into needles and now held countless numbers of them in the air.

Ruby dashed forward and stopped in front of the woman, sword held high. Ren fired a short burst as Ruby's sword came down. She met the woman's blade head on and the glass scimitar cracked. It brought a smile to Ruby's face, that was quickly replaced by a frown when she heard the woman's Aura flowing into the glass.

The cracks filled with orange light and exploded into a shower of shards that the woman pointed at Ruby and Blake with her Aura. Each by itself wouldn't cause a problem, but there were so many that the red light flared up to the point where her hood couldn't block it anymore.

The woman's eyebrows raised, then settled back into a glare. Her Orichalcum channels flared to life and another sword formed in her hand. But instead of attacking, she tried to push past.

 _Ruby saw all of the paths she could take and moved in front of them._ She split into a cage of swords. Each swing wouldn't do too much by itself, but all of them formed an effective barrier.

It slowed the sorceress down just enough for Weiss to begin. Shards of ice as longer than Ruby's fingers fired at the sorceress from every direction. She summoned the fiery barrier again, drawing on her Aura to power it. Ruby had assumed that she was using Dust, which made it much more interesting. If it wasn't her Semblance, maybe they could do something similar.

The woman weathered Weiss' hail of ice and Ren's bullets without a scratch, but standing there and protecting herself took time. And with each passing second, Blake was getting closer and closer to completion.

It was incredible to listen to. Even though it seemed like Blake was just standing with her katana sheathed and her hand tightly grasping the grip, her Aura flowed outwards and expanded like a net grabbing every bit of energy it could. Then wrapped around itself and nestled into a tight weave around either Blake or her weapon. As soon as one pattern was in place she began forming the next. She moved as the final shards were fired.

 _Blake flew past Ruby so quickly that the wind took a second to catch up, drawing her blade at the perfect moment to transfer all of the force into her foe. It bit into the glass, its edge obscured by a purple so dark it was almost black. The sword tore through the glass and slammed into the woman's gut hard enough to fold her over it. The second blow, from Blake's cleaver, was sheathed in the same energy. It slamming into the woman's shoulder with a sickening crunch._

The sorceress tumbled across the ground, landing on one knee. Her dress had torn where Blake's attack connected and a light line of blood ran down her skin, even though her Aura almost instantly closed the wound. The arm that took the second blow dangled uselessly at her side.

Ruby barely resisted gasping. She could only do damage through someone's Aura by hitting someone with the point of Crescent Rose's beak from a Semblance enhanced dash. And Blake did it without being louder than Ruby going all out with her take all options technique.

Blake flowed back into a ready stance, her sword sheathed again, when the sorceress's eyes erupted into orange fire and she spoke in a strange language that Ruby somehow understood the meaning of. _Her Aura twisted and amplified the melodic phrase while the flames around her eyes changed into a pearly white glow. A riddle appeared in Ruby's mind, a riddle that made no sense._

Everyone fell silent as the spell took over their minds. The only sounds were the clinking of the sorceress' heels against the pavement while she marched towards the alley Yang was in.

Ruby tried to move, to stop her, but she was caught, literally ensnared by the chords of the spell while she tried to answer the impossible. The words moved in her mind again and again, but they never made any sense. No matter how many times she repeated them.

She could make out another sword being forged from the woman's Aura, but the riddle was still all she could focus on.

The blade whipped through the air with a crack that ended with a loud metallic ringing.

After a moment, it happened again. This time it was followed by a meaty thump and the sound of Yang's Aura tearing the air to shreds.

The sorceress passed them again, flying almost as quickly as Blake had. It wasn't under her own control though. She smashed through the wall of the warehouse, vanishing into the darkness within.

"Moo," Weiss whispered. But that made no sense, what did cows have to do with dogs?

Weiss raised her rapier and conjured an enormous glyph beneath her feet. She spun every color of Dust she had into it. The particles glowed brighter and brighter until she was surrounded by a whirlwind of white light.

With a flourish she sent a wave of white energy coursing over the street. As it touched Ruby, the fog on her mind cleared and the riddle was forgotten. Though it was hard to not try and remember.

"Weiss what was- Everyone get down!" Ruby cut herself off. _Danger was coming from the warehouse and it would hit all of them_.

Butterflies of black glass flew from the hole in the wall like bullets from a machine gun. Their wings dug into the edge, making the hole even wider and allowing more to pass.

Ruby knocked as many of them away as she could, but two more followed each that she hit. With each impact the red light grew stronger and stronger, spreading over her entire body.

After what for like an eternity, the shards stopped and she could take a look at what happened.

Weiss' glyph shield vanished and she staggered back. There was a small red splotch on her shirt in the same location that the Beowolf stabbed her. A new gash was also open on her thigh.

Ren, Jaune, Nora, and the small girl were in a similar state, though their injuries were less severe.

Pyrrha stood in a pile of broken glass, breathing heavily, but was otherwise fine.

Both Blake and Torchwick were nowhere to be found.

And Yang was standing! She slowly stumbled forward, dragging her feet with each step. Both her body and the hard drives were unharmed.

"Weiss." Ruby dashed over to her and scooped her up.

"We need to leave."

"Why? With Blake, Pyrrha, and me we can still bea-"

"That woman's Anathema! She hasn't even begun to start fighting us!" Weiss shouted.

Ruby blinked at her. "How do you know that?"

"No one can cast that many spells that quickly. We need to get out of here before she finishes another."

Ruby turned her attention to the warehouse. The sounds of the same spell forming again echoed from within. The sorceress stood near a giant box of Dust with eyes and Orichalcum channels blazing, the rest of her dress in tatters. But besides that she wasn't hurt… And her Semblance seemed to be control over glass… Which they were currently standing in a field of.

"Run!" she yelled to the others and pulsed her Semblance, not caring how much more it made her glow. Ren and Nora followed behind her, moving much more slowly. Blake reappeared with Jaune and Yang thrown over her shoulders. And Pyrrha…

Pyrrha had taken Ruby's former position. She stood with her rifle slotted into the side of her shield, firing into the warehouse as quickly as she could.

"Pyrrha get out of there!" Jaune yelled.

Pyrrha ignored him, her eyes locked on her target. She kept firing until the spell was cast once more.

A wave of black butterflies consumed her. Razor sharp glass hit metal again and again while Pyrrha's Aura blazed with sound. Ruby caught glimpses of her furiously parrying butterflies from the air.

After a second of listening, the butterflies fell and Pyrrha raced towards them.

Ruby set Weiss down. "I'll be right back."

She pulsed her Semblance and skidded to a stop next to Pyrrha. Ruby threw her over her shoulders and dashed with her Semblance again, putting as much distance between herself and the warehouse as she could.


	32. Chapter 5-5

They didn't stop running until Ruby's glow had fallen to the brightness of a normal Aura and the warehouse was multiple blocks away. Only then did she put down Weiss and turn to the others.

Ruby looked at both teams and barely we resisted the urge to flinch. Only four of them came away from that fight without injuries.

"Well, that went better than could be expected," she said with a slight smile. It was forced, but someone needed to keep everyone's spirits up. "Considering we went in without knowing what we were up against. I think we did good."

"Not really," Blake whispered so softly that Ruby could barely hear her. Yang, who was still over her shoulders, barely stirred.

After a moment, Jaune stepped in next to Ruby and smiled. "Come on. We did great out there. Like, Ren, you held off the illusion girl by yourself and went toe to toe with the Anathema."

Ren shook his head. "I was fighting her illusion for most of it and the Anathema was mostly Blake and Ruby."

"You kept Weiss safe and doing things like that still matters." Jaune clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, there's no way Blake would've been able to do it herself. Right?"

"Probably not," Blake said to the ground, wincing.

"Exactly." Ruby tapped her fist on her palm. "As a team of two teams, we almost took out the most dangerous criminal in Vale and a secret Anathema as well."

"Yeah!" Jaune cheered, thrust his arm into the air, then winced when his hoodie pulled against the cut on his arm. After a semi-forced giggle from Ruby, he continued. "And next time we find them, they won't know what hit them."

Ruby cheered again, but no one else joined in.

"Ruby." Pyrrha stepped forward, rifle and shield still in hand. "While I appreciate the optimism, the battle was very dangerous and resulted in our defeat, even if we were able to retreat from it. If we fight them again, they'll also know what to expect from each of us."

"I'll have Crescent Rose then and…" Ruby gulped and looked at her sister. "And Yang will be better."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

Ruby paused. She did know, sort of. Something about what she had been doing did this to Yang, but… _She looked for the ways that this could end and how to make everyone happiest._ "Not really, no."

Blake looked up, mouth held tightly shut. Weiss also have Ruby a quick look, but none of team JNPR reacted.

"Could it have been the Anathema?" Ren looked at Yang.

"I-" Ruby stammered. Not telling them it was her own actions would make things go better, but it meant lying to her friends more.

She felt the pressure from Blake, Nora, and Weiss. She could do something, but that would be even worse.

"It could have been." Nora said as her pressure vanished. "If she got to Yang while all of you were in town, then it's possible. Fighting against their commands was so exhausting that it left me unable to really think for like a day. All of you came back yesterday, but when else could Yang have met her?"

Ruby's pulse pounded harder and harder while she held her tongue.

Weiss glanced at her and pursed her lips. "It may not have happened recently."

Blake flinched slightly. She looked at Yang and shifted her to the other shoulder.

"Ruby," Weiss continued, "Didn't you say that Yang spent a lot of the summer by herself?"

"She…" Ruby closed her eyes. She thought back to the empty bed across from the room for almost a week. Also, the time when Yang stayed over at a friend's house in the city, but when they called Youko to check in, she hadn't seen Yang in days. Even so, that was still a complete lie. And reading the results of what could happen would make the glowing come back.

Ruby nodded and looked away from everyone. "S-She was gone for a lot of the summer. We didn't really know where. It… it might have happened. But I don't think that it would've."

"It stays with you long enough that that could be it." Nora patted Yang on the back. She didn't respond.

"If it was… Then what else could have happened because of the connection?" Pyrrha slid her shield onto her back, but kept her rifle in hand.

"Actually." Nora looked up at Blake. "Pyrrha said that the plan was to do this in around a week. Then we all needed to go this afternoon. Blake, why were you two down here?"

"Yang convinced me it would be a good idea." Blake whispered.

All eyes turned toward Blake.

Ruby started to step forward, she couldn't just let this go on. Weiss caught Ruby's hand and pulled her back. She shook her head and mouthed, 'Don't do it.'

"That… That sounds really bad and all, but…" Jaune stepped forward freely. "But how do we even know it's what happened? Like, Weiss, how did you figure out that the woman was an Anathema? She never started glowing or anything."

"It was that spells she cast after Blake beat her." Weiss looked at Blake. "She was casting at an impossibly fast speed, multiple times in a row. Such a performance would have been incredible if she was a dedicated speed caster who was attempting a new world record with the highest quality Dust available. To do so in the middle of combat, just after being injured, meant that there was only one option."

"But, don't we need to confirm the other things?" Nora ran her thumbs over her fingers. "The color, the glow, and icon: like Professor Goodwitch said way back when. Couldn't that have been her Semblance or hidden Dust or something like that?"

"While that may be possible, I doubt it."

"Oh." Nora clenched a fist and looked back. "What now then? Should we call the cops, Beacon, anyone? Even if we can't fight, if someone else kills her, then we wouldn't have to worry about anything else with Yang. And Ruby, Pyrrha, and Blake might even be able to rejoin the fight."

"I-" Jaune cut himself off and looked to Ruby.

 _Ruby looked at the ways that telling the authorities could unfold._ Her glow pulsed a little bit, but not enough to make the street light up. Once more, there were many different options, but only one that accomplished her own goals.

"No, not right now." Ruby shook her head. She waved a hand to the side to silence Nora's objection. "Until Yang wakes up and we can ask her why she did this, we don't have anything real to go on. The woman, she was probably Anathema, but I'm not willing to act on probabilities. Roman Torchwick is bad and she was at least working with him, but that doesn't necessarily make her a monster who should be hunted down yet."

Ren and Nora paled slightly, but nodded.

"Also, the cops have to be on their way already. With that many gunshots and spells, there's no way they can ignore this. They won't be able to move that much Dust and there has to be more information that's left behind when they run." Ruby continued, meeting everyone's eyes in turn.

"They would also want to take custody of the information we have." Weiss pointed at the hard drives. "We're not Huntsmen and Huntresses yet, we don't have the authority to do something like this by ourselves."

"Do you really think we could do better than the police can?" Jaune asked. "I mean, catching criminals is their job."

"They've been failing at that for weeks and I would wager a lot of money that you're better in a fight than most of the people they have on payroll." Weiss pointed at him.

"Wait, I'm that good, really?!" He smiled as widely as he could.

"That wasn't a compliment." Weiss shot back.

"Oh…" Jaune sighed.

"Well, I think you performed marvelously, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled at him. "Do you feel like you know more about your weapon now."

"Yeah, I-" Jaune started explaining, pulling his sword back out.

Weiss yanked Ruby's sleeve to the side and nodded towards a nearby alley. It was far enough away that they should be able to talk without anyone else easily overhearing.

Ruby lead the way over and turned to Weiss as soon as they were inside. "Why did you lie like that?"

"Because the truth would be counter productive." Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"Now they all think that Yang's head's been messed with by an Anathema."

"And that's better than telling them that you did it." Weiss met Ruby's glare with a harsher one. "Think about it. Do you even know why that happened?"

"Of course I don't. I didn't even realize it would do something like that. I thought I was just… pushing the world into a path that I wanted more." Ruby couldn't read Weiss' face at all.

"Ruby, how do you really feel about what happened?"

"Happened when?"

"In the fight."

"I'm fine." Ruby forced a smile. "We did good."

"Ruby, you're not fine."

"I need to be fine." Ruby grit her teeth. "Yang's the one who needs help and I'm the one who made her like that. Until she's better…"

She held her eyes closed and pushed the lump in her throat down. "Until she's better, focus on helping her."

"Ruby." Weiss broke the glare with a sigh. "We can't help Yang right now. How do you really feel about the fight?"

"Annoyed." Ruby looked back at the others. "We could've won and taken down both Torchwick and the Anathema of it wasn't for Blake and Yang doing this now. If I had Crescent Rose, or if Yang was able to fight, or if we had any time to make a plan. We were so close. If we'd just waited, then we'd have gotten him and no one would need to get hurt."

"If that happened, we might have gotten more injured. The Anathema would've hit us harder from the start and fought to the end. They can pull on more power than any Hunter, but by doing so, they reveal themselves."

"How much more?"

"It hasn't been directly measured, but at least twice as much."

Ruby considered how hard it had been to get her to that point. "That would have been bad, but… If Blake kept that up without anyone else getting really hurt, then we'd be able to take her."

"Blake was likely burning through her Aura too quickly to keep it up." Weiss shook her head and paused. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Ruby tried to hold herself still.

"You looked at me very strangely just now."

"Uhh, no I didn't."

"Yes you did." Weiss watched her very intensely. "What do you know about Blake?"

Ruby bit her lip and looked at the others again. They were far away, though Blake had been glancing toward them. When she turned back, Weiss was rolling her hand. Ruby groaned and whispered, "She wasn't actually using much Aura."

"How do you know that?"

"I…" Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I've been able to hear Aura for a while. Each of them have different colors and textures. I'm not really sure exactly what they mean yet, but anyway… Blake was using a lot of Aura, she wove it into itself and around herself. Then, when she actually did her thing, it stayed there and she barely used any more."

"How long have you been able to do this?"

"Since coming to Beacon."

"Is this another one of your 'blessings'?" Weiss asked, the quotes in her speech audible.

"Yeah."

"I have other questions, but we can cover them later."

Ruby let out a breath. "What do we do now?"

Weiss pulled a key-ring from a pocket. "We can all stay in my family's apartment tonight, provided everyone's alright with sharing beds."

* * *

Ren stepped out of one of the bathrooms of Weiss' incredibly large apartment wrapped in the fluffiest robe he'd ever worn. It was pure white, the primary color besides a pale blue for all of the rooms.

"Watch out for the waist jets." Ren said as Jaune stood up for his turn.

"Waist jets?"

"Some of the snowflake tiles have jets in them." Ren pointed at the Schnee symbol that decorated all of the walls. "I don't know how to turn them off."

"Well…" Jaune hesitated, then continued walking. "I guess I'll just keep a look out for them then."

Ren nodded and left Jaune to his shower. He pulled a book about Atlesian vegetables from one of the many bookshelves lining the room. Most of them were new and completely unopened. Though, it seemed like whoever stayed here most frequently was slowly working their way around the room.

He tightened his belt and joined the others in the living room. Nora and Blake had taken a pair of chairs near a Dust fireplace, both also in robes. Ren looked around the room and shook his head. This apartment, which seemed like it spent most of the year empty, was bigger than many of the houses in his hometown.

"What'cha reading?" Nora asked without looking up from her scroll.

"Nothing too important." Ren sat down next to her and held his book open, but wasn't really reading it. He skimmed over the words, glancing at Blake more often than anything else.

She had an introduction to computers textbook and her eyes never left its pages. They darted back and forth incredibly quickly, as if she was speed reading what looked like an incredibly complicated manual.

After almost a minute of watching, he nudged Nora. She quirked her head to the side, then looked at Blake as well. For a while the only things they could hear were Blake turning pages and the very faint sounds of the others also taking showers. Eventually Nora looked back at him, fingers tapping on the edge of her scroll. Ren took a deep breath and nodded.

"Hey, Blake." Nora waved a hand. "Are you, umm, actually reading that?"

Blake looked up, blinked twice, then nodded. "Yes."

"That's awfully fast. I mean, I know you and Ren can do that, but you're barely even looking at a page before you go to the next one." Nora swiped on her scroll really fast. "And so, there's no way you'd actually be getting something out of a complicated book like that and-"

"No!" Nora shouted and frantically swiped in the other direction. "I just killed Jaune!"

"What?" Blake sat straight up.

Ren sighed, smiling slightly. "She's been playing a tactics game and named her units after all of us. You and I are both rangers."

"Jaune's my medic and my highest ranking leader." Nora groaned. "And I just ran him through a lake of deadly fire. He only has one health left and is surrounded by alien snakes that love to wrap themselves around people!"

Blake started at her.

"I wanted them to be on my team and strangle the others, but nooooo they all have to be jerks who don't want to make friends with humans." Nora rolled her head and snapped her scroll shut.

Blake chuckled slightly.

"So," Nora drew out the word. "Why the sudden interest in computers? It's a bit different from what you're usually reading."

"I was trying to steal Torchwick's information without getting caught." Blake looked away. "I almost managed it too, but not knowing enough about computers meant he caught me."

"I might be able to help you with that too." Nora gestured in the air with her scroll.

"You know about computer security?"

"Uhh, no.. Now really."

Ren looked at the book again. He didn't know much about any of that either. It also didn't seem like something that just reading a book would help with. But if it made her feel better, then he wouldn't say anything. Though...

"Blake." Ren looked past her. "There was something else I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it?"

"The technique that you used at the end of the battle." He met her eyes. "The one that almost took out the Anathema."

Blake froze halfway through turning a page. Her lips trembled as she spoke. "W-w what about it?"

"It was incredible." Ren clasped his hands together and leaned forward. "Something that I would have only expected from a master of most martial arts or someone with a very large weapon."

Blake's eyes flickered over to Nora, who looked away from her.

"Before we got accepted to Beacon, Ren and I looked into all sorts of different ways of continuing our training." Nora tapped her fingers on her legs. "We didn't really have the money for Dust or weapon improvements, so we focused on all of the different fighting styles out there. A lot of the tiny schools in Vale were willing to teach us a little bit in exchange for helping out around the buildings or teaching. I did a lot of lifting and Ren did a lot of teaching."

"Most of them could accomplish what you did." Ren took over. "Breaching someone's Aura."

Blake held herself very still.

"But, those techniques were carefully guarded and required years of training before a student's Aura was developed enough to use them," he continued. "There were a few exceptions, styles that focused on methods which could more easily bypass the soul's defenses over."

"The big three were Ebon Shadow, Vitriolic Scorpion, and…" Nora raised a finger and stopped talking.

"Shining Point." Blake finished the sentence.

"They aren't actively shunned like some of the darker Mistral schools," Ren said with a shiver. "Though, they also aren't usually invited to practice because of the risks involved."

"It's not like bad-bad, but still..." Nora waved her hands back and forth. "But… Well… It still isn't exactly something that I'd really expect someone like you to know."

Blake dropped her head and gripped her book harder.

"Especially because whenever the topic came up in combat class, you never brought up knowing anything or used any techniques so…" Nora paused for a moment. "I- We were sort of worried about the reasons why you didn't. Because... well... I don't have too much of a problem with it-"

Blake's breath caught, but returned to normal by the next one.

"-but I can see why someone else could and why you'd want to keep it a secret. It's not exactly the type of thing you'd want to go around advertising, but at the same point, there's also a bunch of things that it could be really useful to know about and..."

"If I'd done that earlier in the fight," Blake said softly, "then the result might have been different."

"She might've cast the riddle spell when Torchwick was still active." Ren stuttered slightly. He didn't really believe his own words.

"I don't think much would have changed." Blake shook her head. "He also wouldn't have been able to figure it out."

Ren nodded. He hadn't been able to even conceive of the sound of absence and that wasn't even the hardest portion of what he heard.

Nora looked up at Ren and leaned her head towards Blake. Ren shook his head, but he spoke anyway. "There was something else you could've done."

Blake gulped.

"Blake," Ren said softly, "an attack like that could've ended the fight with your attack."

She nodded.

"Why did you hit her in the shoulder?"

"What do you mean?"

"There were far more harmful options. Places which would have stopped her from fight back."

"That also would've risked killing her." Blake put the book done and clenched her fists. "I want to believe that a tool like that, something that can only hurt people, could still be used for good. Simply killing someone to win a fight… I don't want to be someone who does that."

"Do you know someone who was?"

"My old teacher."

A shiver ran down Ren's spine. The Anathema was the only one he could have called bad, but a master had a tremendous amount of influence. "I'm sorry."

"He… He's one of the people who give the style it's reputation."

Ren considered all of the masters that he'd heard about. Most of them were brutal, but not the type of people who'd inspire a reaction like this. But, if she had done that, the Anathema would be dead. "If you knew what you do now, would you have chosen differently?"

"About her being Anathema?" Blake waited for his nod before continuing. "I don't know."

"Why not?!" Nora almost jumped out of her seat. "It's not like they're people. They're monsters wearing human skin. Would you just cripple a Beowolf that was trying to eat you?"

"We don't know for sure that she was!"

"What if you knew for sure then?" Nora punched the arm of her chair.

"I-"

"Nora!" Ren snapped. He grabbed her knee and squeezed. She was incredible tense. "It's alright."

"I… I'm sorry Blake." She sank down. "I… It's just, the thought of one of them hurting a friend of mine just makes me… It makes me remember how terrible it was to be in their clutches and lose control of myself. I'm not sure if you know, but Ren and I, we found one before and I killed it after it killed everyone we knew and loved."

"Okay, not literally everyone, but still a lot of them." Nora shook her head. "It still keeps me up at night, the nightmares about what could have happened if we didn't get away. And, now I'm stuck thinking about it, about how you're able to do something that stops them earlier, before they can hurt more people… and you don't. Then I…"

Nora grabbed Blake's arm. "I'd do anything to protect you from the Anathema. All of you on team RWBY and team JNRP too. I've… I've done it already and… And if we find another one and it needs to happen, then you don't have to stain your own hands."

Blake shook slightly, but nodded. "T-Thank you. I… I wouldn't want to have that happen to you either."

"Though…" Blake continued slowly. Her eyes flickered between the two of them. "What would you do if it was ambiguous? Like it was here?"

"What?"

"If there was someone who you thought might be, but you weren't sure."

"I… I got that wrong before." Nora dropped her head. "I was so sure Weiss was… and then she got really, really hurt when they were looking for her."

"Considering how much you care about stopping them, that's a little surprising."

"I don't want to let them hurt people, but I also don't want my friends to get hurt."

"It's a hard problem." Ren crossed his arms. "And one that might not have a good solution."

"Is there…" Nora paused, watching Blake carefully. "Is there someone you're worried about?"

Blake didn't answer.

Ren considered each of their teammates again. Blake herself was still someone he was wondering about. She was a far better fighter than he'd expected, knew techniques that he wasn't yet ready for, and somehow managed to run away from all three of the people they just fought. And yet, there were two others who had him more concerned.

"There are members of our teams that I'm concerned about as well." He began slowly. "Ruby and Pyrrha…"

Blake stayed silent, but the way she glanced at the door to Ruby and Yang's room was telling. "The two of them have an explanation for what Ruby can do which sounds… plausible enough."

"What is it?"

"You should hear it from them directly."

"Pyrrha should be done showering soon." Nora nodded back to the room she and Pyrrha were sharing. "I'm sure she'd be happy to talk about it."

"I'll do that." Blake nodded and picked her book back up.

Ren opened his as well. Nora went back to her game.


	33. Chapter 5-6

Jaune leaned forward, surveying the territory that was once his. Weiss' White Knights now occupied the south of his kingdom and were marching on the not yet completed city of Atlas. She'd emptied out the inner provinces of Vale to launch the invasion, but the only inlet into her vulnerable territory was covered by her remaining units. Ren could have punched through, but he was too busy playing defense against Nora's completely expected betrayal. She'd been cackling whenever Ren asked her for help against Blake all game. It had been a question of when, not if.

Blake managed to turn Menagerie from an early game resource grab to an incredibly powerful fleet producer. The worst part of it was, most of that had been pure luck. She'd gotten exactly the right numbers on the right rolls to make her production skyrocket. Though her lack of land units meant that she couldn't win for several additional turns.

If only they were playing a more up to date version of Conquest of the Kingdoms, then he might've had a chance to recover. An Anathema appearing in central Vale would save him, as would the updated rules for what airships could fly over. But no, they were playing the second edition, which was older than Jaune's parents.

"Urgh," He groaned as Weiss moved yet another unit into Atlas. "Weiss, why?"

"It's your fault for not building more defenses," she said offhandedly.

"But, you never launch a land invasion this early."

"I didn't see anything in the rules about that. You spent your first few turns building mines instead of soldiers and the probability favors my invasion."

"Blarghl." Jaune dropped his head to the table. It was supposedly the first time she'd played the game and she immediately went for the high-risk, high-reward early game rush that most of his sisters couldn't pull off reliably.

He rolled his head to the side and looked over his hand again. "Wait!"

Weiss paused in her next unit placement.

"I still have a snowstorm card." He pulled it out and threw the card down. "You can't move to attack this turn."

Weiss glanced at it, then shook her head. "That needed to be played in the environmental phase, not the combat phase. Your city is mine."

She knocked his hero out of the way with her knight. Then played a card that let her move and attack again. With no defenders left, Atlas fell before it had even been finished.

Jaune sighed and stood up. He was effectively out of the game. At best, he'd be able to hold onto his capital and maybe take some of Nora's islands.

"I'll be right back." He opened the door to the balcony and was greeted by a refreshing gust of wind. It ripped through his hair and chilled the water, waking him up back up just like he'd hoped. If he wanted to turn his game around, then he needed to be wide awake.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha called from the side. She'd retired for the night after East Mistral was taken and with it her chance to recover.

Jaune glanced over at his partner at a loss for words. The twinkling lights of the city danced over her face in the moonlight. Her eyes sparkled with orange pinpoints, sort of like Ruby's did. And the way the wind pulled against her pajamas made it that much harder to look away. Even though he knew staring was both rude and inappropriate.

"Jaune? Are you alright?" She stepped into the light coming from behind him.

"I- Uhh, yes." He squeezed his eyes closed. Pyrrha was his partner, one of the most incredible girls at Beacon, and internationally famous. She was even on his favorite cereal box. Though he didn't realize that until long after they first met. "It's just.. I didn't expect to see you out here."

She turned her head to the side.

"I thought that you were still showering."

"While it was quite nice, I needed to step out before I fell asleep."

"Fell asleep?"

"It's been so long since I used one like this that I forgot how nice the pulsing rhythm setting can feel on my back." She stepped forward and leaned against the railing. "I finished a little while ago and wanted to lay down for a little bit."

"Are we being too loud?" He joined her.

"No, this is no worse than Nora after she drank that entire jar of syrup." Pyrrha laughed lightly, then sighed. Her head dropped and she closed her eyes. "But there was something I wanted to speak with you about."

"Oh?"

"I was thinking about how close that fight was." If Weiss had not realized what we were fighting when she did..."

"Come on it wasn't that bad." He gave her a goofy smile.

Pyrrha sighed. "Jaune, you… If you had been a bit more injured or Nora a bit more careless, you could've died."

"She's hit me with her grenades enough times while training and I was pretty sure he was worse off."

"That's no reason to do something so dangerous."

"It was all that I could do. After all, I… I-" Jaune looked over the edge at the long, long fall down. Cars drove by like little toys. The wind picked up, forcing him to sway left and right. The edges of his vision blurred as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He did all he could to not fall over, he just had to focus All he could look at was the little cars and the little people so far below-

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yanked him away. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I- Grah." He swallowed a horrible taste that had welled up in his throat. "Sorry, it's just… I'm not used to being this high up."

"It takes a little getting used to." She pulled him back to his feet. "Seeing the world from this perspective, that is."

"It makes everyone feel kinda small. Like, you could just grab them between your fingers-" He lined up his fingers with a car and moved them back and forth. "-and do whatever you want with them."

"I know exactly what you mean" Pyrrha closed her eyes. "When I was out on the field, during a colosseum match, the spectators felt so small and so distant. The only things that really mattered were my opponent and myself."

Jaune nodded.

"I would push everything else away in that moment. And when it was done, there would be people cheering. People who will be depending on me for protection in the future." She clenched her fists. "And, when I compare that feeling to the fight we just had, I miss it. Even though we were actively fighting against evil, performing a task which by all means was just, I couldn't help but feel like I failed."

"Pyrrha." Jaune grabbed her wrist. "You didn't fail. You were incredible out there. They couldn't hold a candle to you."

"I think about the degree of power and skill I've been blessed with a great deal." Pyrrha closed her eyes. "I never want to misuse it, to stand by or run away when there's still more that I can do."

"Is that why you stayed behind?" He gulped. "At the end, when everyone else was running away?"

"I thought that I would be able to stop her. That by making myself a target, the rest of you would be able to retreat safely."

"You shouldn't risk yourself like that."

"I was more than able to protect myself. It was all that I could do to protect you… all of you." She reached toward him, but stopped. A light blush crept to her cheeks before she looked away. "For all of my life, I've been warned about the power of the Anathema, about how they can outfight any Huntress and ensnare even the most disciplined minds."

Jaune opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Of all of us, I'm most likely the one best equipped to fight them and…" Pyrrha held her eyes closed. "And instead of facing her I ran. I ran from a fight that I could have won, a fight that would have saved countless people."

"Pyrrha." Jaune spun her around and grabbed her arms. "She was able to fight Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Ren all at the same time. Then she did that deadly spell twice in a row. We have no idea what else that woman was capable of."

"Between her injury and the strength of my Aura, I believe that I would have prevailed. If Blake had fought by my side, we would have surely-"

"There's no way you could know that!" Jaune shouted.

She grabbed his hands and pulled them down. "It was foretold by the stars when I was born. I know what fate has in store for me and I will not run from my destiny."

"Wasn't that something you said that your manager thought up?" He tried to remember the last time they talked about it. "Something cool and inspirational to make you stand out?"

"I had thought so originally, but ever since I met Ruby, my faith has become much stronger." She held a hand to her chest. "Last week, I sought out a priestess of Mars. I asked her about my sign and anything which may be related to it."

"What'd she say?"

"She found a prophecy that was told on the day I was born. It was quite long, but there was a very important section." She closed her eyes. "Within the heart of Vale, upon the cusp of the sanctum of the Mask, two maidens shall clash as one. She of the Spear will face her superior by steel and fire, by Dust and Aura, and by lifeblood unjustly taken. To one, glory shall arise. And the other, tragically befall."

"We both believe that this refers to my own future and I cannot think of a more obvious superior than an Anathema."

He didn't know how to respond to that.

* * *

 _Your punishment has finished. You may feel again._

Yang woke up slowly. Everything felt heavy and foggy, like she'd drank too much and her brain was still catching up to the previous night. They'd been out in Vale, looking for the White Fang. she talked Blake into going, texted Weiss about stealing the first date with Blake, and then… Then Ruby was there and the voice was yelling, really yelling. It'd been angrier than she'd ever heard it before.

Then the blur started. A blur of grey nothing where nothing mattered. She could remember some shapes, but nothing had stuck. And now, it was hot, dark, and there was a weight on her chest like- She froze when she felt someone's breath on her neck.

Suddenly Yang was aware of everything all at once. Each little squeeze or different texture made itself known. A small girl was wrapped around her and there were no lights anywhere. She held onto Yang so tightly that one of her arms was completely trapped.

She felt around with her free arm while her heart pounded. There had to be something, anything nearby that would light up. But, the bed was big enough that nothing was in arm's reach. She could grab onto the lip of a side table. there was a dark grey, vaguely lamp shaped blob on top. Of course, it was just out of reach.

The girl stirred slightly, making those squeaky noises that some people do when they start waking up. Yang's mind raced. Who could this girl be and what did she do with her? Thankfully they both still had their clothes on. One instance of waking up in a weird place naked was more than enough for the year.

Of course, that also made what reaction to have so much harder. Was Yang supposed to kiss her, tease her, punch her?

 _Yes!_

She pushed the voice down, it was never right and… Actually, her headache was gone, completely gone. The pounding in her temples that had been with her ever since they came to Beacon was missing.

"Yang?" Ruby said from her side.

Yang breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't done anything she'd regret last night if Ruby was the one with her now. "Hey sis."

"You're okay!" Ruby rammed her face into Yang's chest and squeezed even harder, forcing all of the air out of Yang's lungs.

"A little tight," Yang said between gasps. Ruby let up a moment later and let her catch her breath. "Whew, you've gotten a lot stronger. That one would give dad a run for his money."

Ruby nodded, but still held on. Second after second passed by, far past the point where it would've been incredibly awkward if anyone else was there. Though, Yang didn't break away because she could feel her sister's heard pounding. Ruby hadn't done something like this since their mom died.

She reached over and nuzzled Ruby's hair with her free hand. "You okay?"

Ruby leaned into it. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry about everything."

"What're you talking about? There's nothing for your to be sorry for."

"I was the one who was hurting you and making you feel bad."

"I-What? Ruby, you've never hurt me." Yang shifted over so she could pull Ruby's head up. "You're my amazing little sister who-"

"I was the one making your headaches worse." Ruby said with a strength of command that Yang had never heard from her before.

"I, no… You."

"Yang, don't lie to me. I-" Her body spasmed like she was pushing something awful down. "After you broke down, you told me about it. And..."

Yang sifted through the haze that was her memory of the past…hours? She'd said something about that to someone, someone wearing red. "Ruby, I…"

Ruby tensed up.

"I thought I had it under control," Yang whispered. "I'm sorry."

"You shut down, worse than dad did."

"What do you mean?" Yang froze. After their mom died, their dad didn't do much of anything for years. She'd lost count of the number of times she left for school with him in his big armchair, only to find him there still when she got back. Some days he'd even slept there, just watching TV endlessly.

"After I tried to make you tell me what was going on, you just stopped." Ruby dug her nails into Yang's side. "Even when we were being attacked, you just laid there. We fought against an Anathema and… Well I don't really know what happened because of the thing she did to me, but you didn't react until she was right next to you."

Every word was like a dagger stabbing Yang's heart.

"W-when we ran away, Blake had to carry you out." Ruby took a breath between every other word. "And… and it was all my fault. You got hurt because of me. Because you couldn't fight, we lost. Because of me, we-"

"Ruby, this wasn't your fault!" Yang shouted and wrapped her arms around her sister. "The headache had been getting worse all semester. There was nothing I could do to make it better and…"

She almost bit her tongue. A lot of the time when she was talking to Ruby, it did get worse. But that wasn't Ruby's fault. The demon she'd sold her soul to was the problem, not her sister. Whenever she listened to someone else's advice, it got mad. If she resisted the urge to do anything, it got mad. Hell, not running around punching gods made it mad and doing that was impossible. Of course, she couldn't just come out and say that.

"And I feel a lot better now."

"You mean it?" Ruby squeaked.

"Yeah, there's nothing bad now." Yang shuddered when the rest of the memories finally sorted themselves out. When it happened, the demon had shouted in a thunderous voice about her weakness and his anger. If she annoyed him again though… What would happen to her then? Even if she was willing to listen to him, what he asked was impossible.

"I don't believe you," Ruby grumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because you're really good at lying to me and Blake's not around."

Yang's breath caught. "Y-you noticed that too?"

"Yeah, I figured it out a little bit after orientation."

The hairs on the back of Yang's neck stood up. "I-I see."

"It's really cool that she's so good at catching lies. I wish I could do that."

Yang's heart continued to pound. How close was Ruby to figuring everything out and catching them?

"I also had to explain some of it to Weiss."

"Like what?"

"What I did to you and how I can hear Aura. I figured that she might be able to help me figure things out."

"She probably can." Yang took a deep breath. "Is there anything else you've figured out?"

"Sort of. I had a dream last night, a really weird dream."

Yang nudged her.

"There's something that I've been thinking about that I want to do. I didn't really get what I needed until I talked with Professor Goodwitch, but now I know."

"What's that?"

"I want to get rid of the investigations. They're terrible and shouldn't ever happen to anyone."

"I don't think anyone will just let you do something like that."

"I know who to go after now." Ruby's voice had gone ice cold. "Or, at least I know how to find out about them."

"Ruby… What did you dream about?"

"The weaknesses of bureaucracies and how to get through even the best defenses."

Yang waited for a moment. "What?"

"That's what it was. It was all full of metaphors and weird thoughts, but after I woke up, so much more made sense." She squirmed up so that she would whisper right in Yang's ear. "I know how to get in and find out where the people really in charge are."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because, the professors at Beacon can't really do anything about it. It's all secret committees where they aren't allowed to talk to each other directly in case someone gets found by an Anathema." Ruby practically spat. "The entire system is broken and if I want to change anything, I need to know where to really go."

"You're way more serious about this than I ever thought. I wouldn't even know where to start. Does anyone else know?"

Ruby froze. After a moment she slowly said, "Yang, promise you won't be mad at me."

Yang made a face, though since it was still pitch black Ruby wouldn't be able to-

"I mean it, actually promise because this is supposed to be a secret. But secrets are getting really annoying and dumb."

Yang blinked a couple of times. "Can you see me right now?"

"Umm… yes?" Ruby's awkward grin was practically audible.

"How?"

"I can make my head sigil glow in a light that I can see, but no one else can."

Yang considered that for a moment. It sounded so convenient. If she was going to start glowing, they'd have Hunters on them almost immediately. "Alright, well I promise I won't get mad."

"Do you remember back before we came to Beacon, when all of this first started?"

Yang nodded. The sight of ruby crying outside of their house wasn't one she was likely to ever forget.

"Well… When I was out in the woods, I sort of ran across someone else who also really doesn't like how things are being run."

Something about the way Ruby was speaking left Yang with a pit in her stomach. "Who was it?"

Ruby stayed quiet for almost a minute. "Your mother."

Yang squeezed Ruby's arm hard enough that she yelped. Her muscles shook while they fought each other, one group trying to squeeze harder and the other trying to push Ruby away.

"Yang, don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Yang said through her teeth.

"You look really mad."

"You've known where she was this entire time and didn't tell me?" Yang held her mouth shut to stop herself from yelling.

"I don't know where she is. She showed up, told me about everything that was wrong and why she thought it was, and then opened a portal to leave."

"That's it?" Yang didn't let go, but she stopped fighting against herself.

"Well, she also implied that she knew what was going on with me, but didn't actually tell me anything useful."

"What was she like?"

Ruby waited a moment before responding. "Harsh. Blunt. Kind of like a combination of Professor Goodwitch's seriousness and Uncle Qrow's jerkishness. When he's at his worst... and also sober."

"Sounds... " Yang sighed. "Like about what I expected. I mean, someone who would just abandon their family like that can't be very nice."

"She seemed like she had a plan for how to change things. Or at least, the start of one." Ruby pulled away and moved over to the edge of the bed. "When she first asked me to help, I told her she was crazy, that there was no way it could be that bad. If she asked me right now… I think I'd go with her."

Yang watched her sister when the lights came on in what she could now recognize as Weiss' apartment. Ruby looked fine, physically, but she was slouching. She also had her arms crossed over her legs and, from the smell, was still wearing the clothes she'd fought in.

There were so many questions Yang had about her mother and Ruby's powers. So many that were practically screaming to be voiced. Why was she on Patch? Did she ask about anyone? How would she feel about what happened to Yang because of searching for her?

All of them could wait.

"Hey sis." Yang said softly.

Ruby turned around just in time to get hit in the face with a pillow.

"We both need showers and a change of clothes." Yang flung the blanket off and rolled her neck. "Where's everyone else?"

"Getting food and figuring out what we're going to say later?"

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Professor Ozpin wants to talk to all of us about the Anathema." Ruby stood up and slightly smiled. "We've delayed as much as we can."

"Delayed? How long had it been?"

"About a day."

Yang mouthed the words. Had Ruby been with her for an entire day, not seeing anyone else?

"Why did you wait so long?"

"Because it would be best for all of us." Ruby's stary red eyes met Yang's. "I can see the future and spent all day going over our options."

Yang stared at her, slack jawed.

"It's another of those things that I figured out how to do." Ruby smiled slightly. "I was talking with Pyrrha and we figured out that I might actually have been blessed by the goddess Mars. If I think about it like that, almost everything makes more sense. I think Weiss and Blake might be too, but I don't know which of the gods would favor them."

There was a tension in Ruby's face that didn't belong there. An almost instantaneous flicking of her eyes that Yang had never seen on her little sister before. The look of someone desperate for a solution who was lying to herself. It was very familiar look, the same one that Yang had seen in the mirror every day for the past month.

"And, umm." Ruby looked away. "I don't supposed any gods have spoken to you, have they?"

Yang focused on Ruby, on her posture, on her Aura. Her little sister was a threat now.

"No, nothing like that," Yang muttered. It certainly wasn't a god that she'd spoken to.

"Oh, well… Maybe one of them did something to you without you knowing, like what happened to me." She laughed emptily. "It's not like I was ever told. I had to figure it out myself."

Yang held her face very still. She needed to talk to Weiss and Blake.


	34. Chapter 5-i

Thousands upon thousands of lien, all lost in a single night.

Roman Torchwick slid down the fire escape and landed on a pile of broken glass. Black shards which he had to step across very carefully. A single misstep could send one of them through the sole of his shoe and straight through his foot. If he had any time, he'd have waited for his Aura to recover, but there was work that needed to be done.

"Neo!" he shouted as he left the alley. His partner in crime reappeared from below a broken window. She seemed unharmed, despite the wall being almost destroyed by thousands of deep cuts, unlike his aching gut.

She glared at the fleeing Hunters and held her lips so tightly they were turning white. One of them must've done something to draw her attention. The kid had no idea what they were getting into, but would probably survive her attention. Unless it was the blonde idiot with the flaming sword. Roman and Neo hadn't worked someone over as a team in a long time and the last person who'd crossed them both hadn't even lasted a day.

"Neo!" he shouted again while he collected his cane. It fell just outside of the glass. "There's no time for that now, we need to focus on this."

He mimed Cinder's flame hand pose to her and nodded at the broken wall. She returned the nod, checking the mechanism of her parasol. The needle still worked properly.

They stepped toward it in sync and stopped at the edge of the wall. For a long count, they listened for the sounds of more spells. Instead they heard the tell-tale clinking of Cinder's glass heels. Roman tapped Neo on the shoulder, then the small of her back. She nodded and stepped into the building.

Roman slid in next to what he hoped was an illusion. Neo's Aura shouldn't have been broken considering how she was walking, but she'd probably spent a lot of it in the fight. If it came down to it, they'd need every dirty trick they knew to win.

He strode forward with a carefully practiced swagger. It was one of the first things he'd learned on the streets: always look like you were in control and had a plan. Neo stepped right behind him, matching his stride. Which was good; it was definitely an illusion if she could keep up with his speed this easily.

He needed her to be as strong as possible if it came down to a fight. The Huntress-thief had really done a number on Cinder. Her dress was in tatters and her right shoulder was already swelling up, the arm hanging uselessly at her side. But she could still move and her aura wasn't broken.

"Roman," she growled, flames still dancing to the sides of her eyes. "Call every man you have. We're moving everything, now!"

"Oh? And where are we moving it to?" he asked casually, as if they were discussing what to order for dinner.

Cinder glared at him.

"I can't exactly move things without knowing where to go." There were a number of different places that she'd sent Dust before, though most of it was still in this warehouse.

"Send the Dust to Mountain Glenn."

He looked at her for a moment. "Excuse me. Mountain Glenn? The death trap filled with so many Grimm that Vale's given up on taking it back? The tomb where hundreds of Hunters died saving stupid sheep? The mark of failure that tells everyone in the world just how stupid Vale's rulers are? That Mountain Glenn?"

"Don't think." Cinder conjured a ball of fire with her good hand. "Obey."

"You brought me into this little game of yours to think." He brought his cane up, pointing it to the side. "Not commit suicide via Grimm."

"The Grimm will not be an issue."

Roman squinted at her.

"Need I remind you what will happen if you fail at your tasks?"

"Need I remind you what you're standing next to?" Roman flipped his targeting scope up; a crate of very high potency Fire Dust was in his sights.

Cinder glanced at it, the flames around her eyes flaring brighter. "You would kill yourself."

"Better quick and painless than being tortured to death." He should know. People begged him and Neo to put them out of their misery often enough.

He held his ground until Cinder doused her flame. "Very well, Roman. I'll show you why the Grimm won't be a problem."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't lower his cane.

"But first, get the Dust moving."

He looked at the animals gawking at them. "You heard her. Get all of this into the air and heading to Mountain Glenn. Higher grade Dust has priority, you should know the colors by now."

They stared at him for a moment, then ran to grab containers and prep the Bullhead.

Cinder led them to her mystery room. The room that they had been barred from entering upon pain of… whatever torment it was that Cinder chose to inflict at the time. She was a sorceress and also an Anathema, if the Schnee girl was correct; she had plenty of options, none of which Roman was keen on experiencing.

The room itself was small, lacking in any human comforts. An old, ebony table held a large number of different tools and vials, none of which Roman was familiar with. A fair number were encrusted with drying blood, probably all that remained of the traitor they brought her earlier. The gunk that was still drying on Cinder's uninjured arm was splattered all over one of the side walls.

All of that paled in comparison to the apparatus in the center. A bloody rune which held an eye in the center, freshly painted. He didn't want to know what she'd done with the corpse.

"Well, we're here in your creepy dungeon." He shook his head. "What could be so important tha-"

Roman cut himself off when she dropped to one knee in front of the sign. Cinder brought her good arm to her chest and began speaking in that weird language of hers. The words reverberated off of the walls; echos flowed into themselves over and over. The hair on the back of Roman's neck rose as a shiver ran down his spine. She continued speaking, chanting for almost a minute, the sound growing until the tools on the table shook and the floor itself vibrated.

And then silence.

Cinder dropped her head and remained kneeling. Roman glanced around the room, the air heavy and thick with moisture. Something inside of him was yelling at him to run now. And it wasn't just him. Neo's eyes had gone white. The last time he'd seen that was when one of the most dangerous Huntresses alive was tearing her way through one of their warehouses.

"Wha-" He touched her shoulder.

"Silence." Cinder cut him off as a black mist erupted from the pupil of the eye. Wave after wave spilled forth, covering the symbol with a fog. As it inched closer, he reflexively stepped back, not wanting to touch the unnatural miasma. But there was no escaping it. It chilled his skin to the point of giving him goosebumps, but Cinder didn't seem to be affected at all.

The mist settled down while they waited. It absorbed all of the light, dulling the room to the point where it looked black and white. Then it moved, rippling away from the far wall. Someone stepped out of it. A woman, tall, with skin that was white like the masks of the Grimm. Her glowing red eyes, dress so black it seemed like it absorbed all of the light around it, and tattoos that looked like bloody veins took the inhuman impression and made it even stronger. A quick glance to Neo was all he needed to know that he wasn't alone in that feeling.

The woman floated free from the wall, never seeming to move her legs. After looking at Cinder, she briefly turned to Roman. Every fiber of his body was screaming at him to run, to save his life. But he recognized the expression on her face. It was one that he used when dealing with animals that were both worthless and rowdy, which was probably a quarter of them.

He held his breath for the entire time that her eyes were on him, not caring that he was visibly shivering. The woman wanted him to fear her, to bow down like Cinder was. Or, not. She was standing up now. And still glaring at him.

The woman practically floated over to Cinder, the mist parting in front of her, and spoke in the same strange language. It was, if anything, even smoother than Cinder's own, long phrases flowing into each other without pause or hesitation.

Cinder remained kneeling; she responded to everything the other woman said quickly. Her words were much shorter, but one stuck out as different than the others, a name: Salem. There was something else that Cinder always said before it, most likely a title.

At one point, she shot a glare at Roman. The other woman's brow tightened and she watched him as well. He stood up straighter and looked away, not challenging her.

It was like he was fourteen again and had just been initiated into his first gang. He'd wound up in charge of that bunch within the year. Somehow, he felt like that wouldn't be happening here.

The woman said another word and Cinder stood. They both turned toward Roman and Neo.

Cinder stepped forward and began with the title in the strange language. "-Salem, these two are Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan." She pointed to each of them.

"Roman Torchwick," Salem said in an even tone. "Cinder has informed me of the work that you've done that furthers our goals."

He nodded and received no response. After a long pause, he began to speak. "Ye-"

"She has also informed me of the reason why you stand before me now." She cut him off with a razor sharp edge to her voice and a hand held forward. The mist on the ground swirled around it, spiraling into the middle of her palm. The black goop lining the walls and Cinder's side rose as well. It flowed in until it became solid.

There was no doubt in his mind that the beetle calmly sitting on her hand was a Grimm. Its red eyes glowed, focusing on him. The black flesh smoked continuously while it took flight, leaving streams of particles behind it.

"Loyalty is of utmost importance to me, Roman," she continued while the beetle lazily flew towards him. It landed on his cheeks and slowly skittered up his face. He shivered while the Grimm continued moving. It ended next to his eye, only its mandibles in sight. Seconds ticked by while it chittered and moved. He held as still as possible.

The woman eventually called it back and smiled. "However, you are fortunate. She regards you as someone who still has his uses."

Roman spared a glance towards Cinder while he caught his breath.

The rage in her eyes was still there. She met his gaze and held her lips tight.

"But, I am not convinced just yet." Salem folded her hands in front of herself and tapped her fingers. "A tool which cannot be relied on should be disposed of, unless it is truly vital."

He gulped and nodded.

"Your purpose was gathering resources. A task which appears to be complete."

"I-" he stammered, expecting to be interrupted. When neither woman spoke, he continued, "I've worked the streets of Vale my whole life. I'm the most wanted man in the kingdom and I'm still here. I have men everywhere that matters and can find whatever information is needed, when we need it."

They spoke to each other in that language again, a short back and forth.

"Very well, information is it." Salem smiled. "What of the Hunter teams that you just fought?"

Roman grit his teeth. Of course he wouldn't have anything about a group of brats. Not one of them looked over twenty, they were irrelevant. But that wouldn't keep him and Neo alive.

"The kids, huh." He started slowly, still connecting all of the dots that he had. There was a list of important Hunters passed around the underworld: pictures, personalities, and fighting styles. It also had some up-and-comings that important people had their eyes on. "They came from Beacon, that's obvious enough. You don't find kids that good anywhere else."

Neither responded.

"They found us thanks to a slip up from the animals. The blonde who was playing dead kicked the crap out of one of them and took her scroll." He took a breath while his saving fact came to him. "The interesting thing is their age. Blondie could be any year, but they had two known faces."

He held up a finger. "The first is a Schnee. There aren't many Schnee Huntresses and this one I know from a concert last year. She's the main family's middle kid and most likely a freshman. She was hurt, but still put up a better fight than most professional Hunters. Most importantly, she was Cinder's match in sorcery."

Cinder's eye flames flared up again.

"She might've gotten bumped up a year, but the other celebrity girl makes me sure of their age." The fact that a group of freshmen had taken them out was worrying, but that didn't need to be said. "Pyrrha Nikos, champion of the Mistral Regional who's been a thorn in the side of my Mistral contacts. The girl's as pure as snow, she refused many incredibly generous offers for endorsements or wagers. They'd make millions if she was willing to throw a single match, but no, that would be dishonorable."

"Get to the point," Cinder practically spat.

"Despite the level of skill these two are known for, almost all of the others were keeping up with or surpassing them." He paused for a moment. There was something else that struck him as strange in the fight. Something about one of the girls. "That type of talent doesn't just appear from nowhere.

"And…" He briefly closed his eyes and focused. Who was the strange one, the one who should have been memorable. It came to him after a moment of very intense concentration. "And I'd bet that at least the red girl is related to someone dangerous. She saw through Neo almost immediately and I've never even heard of eyes like hers."

Salem's expression shifted slightly, a slight inclination of her head.

"Bright red irises that sparkled with stars of bronze. Her pupils had sparkled with red spots as well." Roman resisted the urge to smirk when that got a reaction from the woman. "Then there was that bright red aura and weird icon on her forehead."

She turned to Cinder and said something. Cinder responded incredibly quickly. While Roman didn't know exactly what she'd said, he knew that tone all too well. It was the same way the useless bear-girl spoke about losing her phone: "I didn't know it was important."

"Roman." Cinder looked at him. "Consider finding out everything you can about those Hunters your task once the Dust has been moved."

He nodded. "I'll go make sure it travels smoothly then."

"Wait." Salem held a hand up. "There are two additional matters before us. While you have proven your worth, you remain a scoundrel who cares about his continued survival above all else."

He grimaced. She wasn't wrong.

A wind whipped up in the center of the room, making her dress and cape billow outward. She held her hands in front of her as a sickly green-black tar formed between them. The surface writhed back and forth, pulsing as it grew larger and larger.

"You will speak of neither my name nor anything about me to any." She blew a black mist at the orb, making the surface settle.

Roman nodded. "Of course I woul-"

Salem released the orb, launching it into his mouth. Roman's hands wrapped around his neck as the black-green sphere forced its way past his lips. It tasted like rot and death as it forced its way past his fingers and further down his throat, making him retch with every inch it moved. He clawed at the orb until it passed below his collarbone and settled into his gut. For what seemed like an eternity, the feeling of death spread through his body until it reached his fingertips and toes, making them curl in disgust.

As soon as he was able to breathe again, he spewed his lunch all over the ground. Roman fell to his knees, breathing in gasps while every drop of bile in him came out of his mouth.

"If you ever think of speaking of me, then this feeling will overcome you again. If you try, then it will be far more severe." Salem turned to Neo and began to conjure another orb.

"No-" Roman gasped, reaching for Neo while she rapidly shook her head. "She can't talk, you don't need to-"

"The spell will prevent more than just speech. It will silence all forms of communication." Cinder's sadistic smile curled up while she watched Neo step backwards.

Roman dropped his head to the ground and tried to ignore Neo's gasps. If it had been anyone else, anyone he had even a chance of living against, he'd have fired a shot before he'd let them do this to Neo. He tried to ignore the retching sounds she made as she got sick. It was just like the first time the little imp, not that he would ever call her that to her face… again, drank too much. She fell to the floor as well. He stood up, knees shaky, then looked at Cinder and Salem. When neither indicated there was a problem, he helped Neo back up.

"See that as much Dust as possible makes it to Mountain Glenn." Cinder waved a hand, dismissing them. "And also ensure that we are not disturbed."

Before he left, Cinder continued speaking. She used the strange title again. "-Salem, are there any other blessings that you could give me? If what you believe is true, I may need them to defeat the red girl."

Salem looked from Roman to Cinder and smiled. "She must be taken care of before she finds the gate. His allies are already too close to it. To accomplish this, there are other modifications that we can make, though I cannot guarantee that your soul will be able to accept them without other issues. If we change the nature of your Essence too much, then the mantle will leave you."

"I'm willing to take that risk."

Roman closed the door on his way out, rolling that last bit around in his head. There was no reason for her to ask about that, in a language he understood, while he could hear her. It was bait… And the bait was very tempting if it was true.

He had his answer. Cinder worked for someone who could control the Grimm and make people stronger. Someone who was not human in any way. He didn't know if she was Anathema, a human Grimm, or some sort of god or demon(assuming those existed). What he knew for sure was that he'd lucked his way into the winning side. The Grimm ruled the world, humans just lived in it. Now he just needed to get off Cinder's shit list before he wasn't useful anymore.


	35. Chapter 6-1

Ruby stood next to Jaune with her hands behind her back, fingers strumming the chords of the song that she'd created before Yang woke up. Why hadn't she thought of it before? If the stars could predict the way the future would be, then grabbing hold of their melodies should let her control it. And if it didn't, she still had a ball of invisible energy that would do something when she let it loose.

She held one wrist tightly while she focused on all of the questions she'd asked of the world. It had taken most of the previous day, but she knew what she needed to tell them and what she absolutely shouldn't.

"So, then Ruby and Weiss ran up to me and Ren and… well… explained what was going on and then we went to Vale," Jaune said loudly enough for everyone to hear over the howling wind and pouring rain surrounding Professor Ozpin's tower-top office.

"Thank you, Mister Arc," Professor Goodwitch said as she wrote on her scroll. "Miss Rose, could you please explain how your team came across this information?"

Ruby stepped forward. "After Weiss got out of the hospital, team RWBY went on a trip to downtown Vale. While we were there, we ran into someone who thought that the reason why Roman Torchwick had been so successful was that he'd started working with the White Fang. They provided a lot of people who were willing and able to fight, for almost no pay."

"And how did the person you spoke to know about this?" Professor Ozpin asked.

"He's currently with the White Fang and wants to leave them."

"He told you this himself?"

"He did after we figured it out." Ruby took a deep breath to focus. She was at the first hard part. "I overheard a White Fang team talking about places that were important. They pointed to his store and said it had weapons. Since it was a book store, I thought that was really weird."

"Very well." Professor Ozpin's eyes briefly flickered to Blake. Did he know about her history? "And once you knew this, how did you locate Torchwick? He's proven very difficult to find."

Ruby paused for a moment. She'd been expecting the pressure to show up, not that she was going to actually use her thing on Professor Ozpin like that, but it didn't. He'd accepted everything they'd said so far. "Well, we went to a club, where Yang kind of got into a fight with another White Fang member. We wound up with her scroll and it had information about where the next meeting was going to be."

Weiss stepped up. "She had a poor excuse for a password and her texting history was full of information. It took slightly less than an hour for me to find the right area."

"I see." Professor Ozpin nodded. "Is there a reason that you didn't come to your professors with this? While we encourage any student to help out wherever they can, most wait until their junior year to try and take down crime lords."

Ruby didn't say that they'd ignored Torchwick up to this point; even though she was thinking it very hard.

She also didn't say that she looked to the future and saw that they'd be more successful by not telling anyone. Though that was only because she'd looked into the future again last night and it told her that telling Professor Ozpin about how she could see the future would be a bad idea. "We needed to act on the information really fast and confirming everything would have taken too much time. Also, we thought that we could handle it and all of you had more important things to do."

Pressure appeared around Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, Jaune, and Ren. Ruby ignored it. She wasn't going to hurt them the same way she'd hurt Yang.

"While we are very busy," Professor Goodwitch said, "this is something that any Hunter would have dropped what they were doing to help with. Roman Torchwick is a dangerous man and all of you were in a great deal of danger. With a professional Hunter there as well, they could have been apprehended."

"With all due respect ma'am," Weiss spoke up before Ruby could respond. "Most of us are on the same level as the average professional Hunter, if not better."

"Beacon draws its teaching staff from the best that we can." Professor Ozpin folded his hands on his desk. "Do you believe that any of your members would be capable of defeating them?"

"In at least one case, yes." Weiss nodded towards Pyrrha, who turned away and blushed.

Professor Ozpin took a breath and his pressure built again. Ruby ignored it until it vanished with him exhaling. "Regardless, someone with more experience would have been a boon while fighting and opened additional channels for support to arrive."

"Considering how powerful the Anathema was, I'm not sure that more people could've helped that much." Ruby held her hands tight so that she didn't absentmindedly rub her neck. "That's why we didn't call it in immediately."

Professor Goodwitch shook her head. "Could you describe the Anathema for us?"

The corners of Ruby's mouth slid upwards into a bright smile. "We can do you one better. Weiss?"

Weiss pulled out her scroll and turned it to the professors. On it was a colored sketch that she, Ren, and Blake worked on all morning. It was a perfect rendition of the woman. Professor Ozpin nodded, then Weiss swiped her scroll. The image was replaced with a copy that included the eye-fire. Both professors froze when they saw it.

Professor Ozpin spoke first, his tone very controlled. "Why do you believe that this woman was Anathema?"

Weiss pointed at the second picture. "This effect appeared when she was casting spells at world-record paces, while injured. She also had a strong enough Aura and developed enough close combat skills to fight Ren, Blake, and myself at the same time; she also would have defeated us if I wasn't able to counter her spells. From her appearance, I would expect her to be in her later twenties at the absolute highest, and doubt that most Hunters would be able to develop all of those skills simultaneously by that point."

The pressure heavily fell around both Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. Ruby inched her Aura towards them, but held herself back when she realized what she was about to do. Professor Ozpin spoke first. "The fight happened yesterday evening, at around this time?"

"Yes," Weiss said, "it wasn't even an hour ago when it began."

"Glynda." Professor Ozpin threw a keyring from his drawer to her. "The HS-43 should be refueled by now."

"Ohhh…" Ruby and Yang cooed. That was a deployment airship that went so fast even Hunters needed to strap themselves in. She'd be able to get to downtown Vale in less than half an hour… Which actually raised a lot of questions.

"There may still be some signs. "She nodded and marched to the balcony door. When she threw it open, the wind ripped, spraying the room with a cool mist from the rain. The winds whipped around her, growing in strength until they became a whirlwind that lifted Professor Goodwitch into the air. As soon as the spell was complete, she launched herself off of the balcony, closing the door behind her with a flick of her riding crop.

"Uhh..." Jaune pointed at the door.

"I sent a regular team to investigate the site, but they will not be able to reconstruct any important relics that were broken as the Anathema fled," Professor Ozpin said while Blake ever so slightly flinched. It was getting harder and harder for Ruby to catch those motions, but she still could.

Ruby held her mouth tightly closed while she considered her dreams. There were a number of things wrong with what just happened beyond how fast Professor Goodwitch needed to get to Vale. "Isn't that against how things should be done though?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"We're all assuming that this woman's Anathema without confirming any of the reliable signs." Ruby felt everyone's eyes turned towards her. "I mean, I think that she is too, but shouldn't you be more hesitant to sentence her. We're just students with no authority, you're the leader of all of Vale's Hunters."

The pressure built around him as he met her gaze. "You're quite right, Miss Rose. There are many other pieces of information that needs to be found before we can say for certain that she is Anathema."

Ruby was about to ask another question, when a feeling of dread came over her. There was something about it that would have been awful if she'd continued down that path. Instead she shifted to another one, which didn't feel bad. "Why did you send Professor Goodwitch after her so quickly then?"

"Ruby." Weiss growled under her breath. Ruby could hear exactly what she wanted. " _Don't start this right now."_

But, she ignored her partner and also didn't wait for a response.

"Overriding the previous team assignment seems like it would be outside of procedure. You've already passed a judgment on her even though it's outside of the rules. I wonder what the people who write the procedures would think of that." _Ruby released the energy she'd built up. The song of the Gauntlet ripped throughout the room, harmonizing with her words. The sign most aligned with all of these arguments was in her hands now, it's power over bad and worse choices aiding her._

Jaune took a quick breath and hopped away from Ruby.

"Wha-" Nora gasped, hands shaking. She stopped when Ren grabbed her shoulder.

Professor Ozpin's brow tightened. "This is a conversation that you've wanted to have for some time."

Ruby nodded and strummed her pattern again. "You've avoided me every other time I've tried."

"You're not willing to wait until after we finish the debriefing." It wasn't a question.

 _Ruby looked at her options again, what few there were, to make sure this was the best path._ She shook her head.

"Very well." Professor Ozpin stood up, cane in hand. He looked over the others. "We will continue the debriefing after I speak with Miss Rose. There's a faculty kitchen on the seventeenth floor that's fully stocked."

Yang stepped forward. "I'm not just going to stand here and-"

"Yang!" Ruby said sharply, cutting her sister off with a wave of her hand. "I'll be fine. Go downstairs."

She could hear Yang gritting her teeth as the pressure built again. Ruby ignored it. Instead she turned to her sister and smiled. Yang glanced from her, to Ozpin, and back. She moved to step forward again, but Weiss grabbed her hand.

Weiss pulled Yang until the two were facing each other. "If she really wants to do this, we need to trust her."

Yang's eyes went wide. She glanced at Ruby, glowered around the room, and pulled away from Weiss. But, she didn't start arguing about staying.

Ruby glanced at team JNPR one-by-one. Only Ren was able to meet her eyes without immediately looking away. He frowned and shook his head, but still went to the elevator. The rest of his team, along with her own, followed.

The elevator closed and started moving. Ruby took a deep breath and turned back to Professor Ozpin. She could have continued going after the investigations, that's what the objection was about. Instead she thought about what Weiss would do. How would she make him off balance?

Ruby asked the previously dangerous question that no longer felt risky for some reason. "Something doesn't add up. You're sending someone who's probably one of the best huntresses in Vale to investigate a woman who's missing all of the signs of being an Anathema. Why did you react like you did to the second picture? The one with her eyes were lit up."

It took him a moment to respond. "I've been searching for a woman who meets that description for some time."

"Why? What did she do?"

"Murdered a number of people, including several Hunters."

Ruby gulped, that was more than she'd been expecting. "And that justifies making people think she's Anathema?"

"I never said that she was Anathema."

"You also never said that she wasn't." Ruby crossed her arms. "Besides, she fits everything except for the color, sign, and intensity. If she isn't Anathema, then what could she be?"

The pressure appeared for only a moment. "Such abilities could be caused by her Semblance."

"No, her Semblance was something to do with controlling glass."

"Are you sure that wasn't a spell or another technique?"

"It was too uniform. She used it on her swords and the glass shards she threw. Her Semblance was completely distinct from the spell or martial arts she was using."

He picked up a mug from his desk and swirled it. "How do you know that?"

"I-" Ruby cut herself off before she blurted out something that she shouldn't. "I'm just sure about it. They looked different when she did them. okay?"

"Hmm." Professor Ozpin took a long sip of his coffee. "Multiple Semblances is a sure sign of the Anathema... Unless there are other people who have similar abilities. How would you confirm it?"

Ruby felt danger surrounding herself again. "I…"

She grit her teeth and pushed through it. She'd never succeed by running from every risk. "I don't think that matters."

Professor Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"You said that she's murdered a lot of people, including Hunters. If that's true, then she's a monster who's making the world worse whether or not she's Anathema."

"Ruby." He met her eyes, his own slightly watery. "I've made many mistakes in my life. While I do not think that her dying would be one, sending an Anathema hunt against her without further confirmation would."

"You need to be sure before doing something like that?"

"Yes."

"That's… garbage." Ruby almost swore, but couldn't bring herself to. "If you really cared about being sure, then you wouldn't have killed Weiss."

He raised an eyebrow again. "Miss Schnee was alive five minutes ago."

"If it wasn't for me and Yang, she'd be dead. Eaten by an Alpha Beowolf that Professor Port didn't shoot. We saved her!" Ruby stomped her heel and glared at Professor Ozpin.

"Because the two of your were there, he needed to make the investigation that much more dangerous and that much more chaotic." His voice had an edge she'd never heard before. "Would you have allowed Miss Schnee to be hurt like that if he warned you?"

"Of course not!"

"And because of that, she needed to be put into a situation where her life was at risk no matter how you interfered."

Ruby stepped back. "She was safer because we were there!"

"She was going to be hurt regardless of your presence. I'm sorry that it had to happen, but her knowledge and position required a minimum amount of pain to be sure." His grip on his mug tightened. "However, it did not need to be as uncontrolled as it was. If only Professor Port and Miss Schnee were present, then he would have been able to more directly control the situation."

Ruby almost shouted at him, but bit her tongue as she forced her mouth closed. There it was, the perfect attack that she could've used. They'd completely broken from their procedure and it almost killed someone who wasn't Anathema. But… it was her fault that they did it and she couldn't argue about that, not convincingly.

For several long breaths, they watched each other as the pressure built again. It would be so easy to just shove the problem out of her way, to make him tell her. If anyone deserved the stress that it caused, it was the person who most enabled everything bad that had happened.

The pressure faded. Professor Ozpin sighed. "Ruby, what is it that you hope to gain from all of this fighting?"

"I want you to actually be the heroes I thought you were." Ruby looked away from him and glared at the window. Drops of rain spattered against the glass, the bright sparks within them were the only splashes of light in an oily sky. "My mom and dad were heroes. Uncle Qrow and Aunt Raven were too, even if they were meaner about it. They fought against evil wherever they could, no matter the cost. They were willing to die to keep the world safe and… and my mom did die."

Professor Ozpin's reflection shifted.

"I've known that bad things had to happen to find Anathema ever since Yang came home from her investigation at Signal, but I never, even in my worst nightmares, imagined that it could be this bad." She dug her fingernails into her palms. "No one who lets the Grimm have their way with someone can be a good person. A system that tells people that this is not only acceptable, but good, is so rotten I don't know how anyone allows it to exist, let alone join it."

She took a deep breath and pushed the fire raging in her heart down. "You can't change this. Professor Goodwitch can't change this. Only people who've probably never even seen a Grimm themselves can actually do anything."

"Every member of the policy board has been investigated at some point in their lives. Most of them to the same degree that Miss Schnee was."

"How many of them are Hunters?"

"Around one fifth." He answered immediately. "Many of whom are the strongest supporters of making use of the Grimm."

"Then they're wrong. They're wrong and traitors to the title."

"There are many who disagree with you. Including those who are among the supposed victims, who should by all accounts be the people who would fight against it the most."

Ruby grumbled under her breath. Weiss grew up in a completely different world, so did Pyrrha. Nora was the one who she'd expect to want to stop the Anathema at any cost and she thought that what happened to Weiss was too much.

"You're not willing to do anything about it. You've had as much time as you need to try and make things better." She turned around again and unleashed another wave of energy from her Gauntlet pattern. "Let me talk to them. Write a formal introduction. If you actually cared, then you would do at least that much."

The pressure built again and Ruby grit her teeth. _The best option presented itself in the paths which the future could take._ Ruby shoved Professor Ozpin's Aura as hard as she could. The pressure warped around him, giving way to her advance. Then it rebounded, smashing her own Aura away.

Professor Ozpin winced ever so slightly. "No."

"Why not?"

"Do you have a solution? A method which could replace what you don't like?"

Ruby glared at him.

"Then it would be a waste of both your and their time." He relaxed again. "If you can find something which may work, then I would he happy to introduce you."

"Why does it need to be replaced?" Ruby stepped forward. "Most of them are caught either because they mess up or during the first investigation, which as far as I know never involves the Grimm."

"Regardless of my personal beliefs, the risk posed is far too high to accept anything less certainty than we already have. The potential danger is simply too great because of how quickly they grow."

"What danger? If you find them a month or two later, what will have changed? Ren and Nora killed one before they even got to Beacon, one who had plenty of time to gain more power. Blake and I fought against this one while I was missing my weapon. How long have you known about her? Months? Years?" Ruby pulled the energy from her pattern again, blaring it to the room in one final burst. "She wasn't that much better than a freshmen team. They aren't enough of a threat to be worth throwing away everything we're supposed to stand for!"

The crimson echos crashed into him while he held himself very still. The only movement was in his eyes, a brief flicker that Ruby couldn't identify.

"History has shown the amount of power they can bring to bear in very short order." He looked away, speaking very softly. "Small towns and cities were taken over without the ability to fight back. People who were once peaceful becoming fanatics within weeks."

"History has shown that the Anathema don't need to be involved for that to happen. And when they are, they get at most a couple thousand people under them before they get caught."

"One hundred people in the right place and time can topple an empire. One of the Colorless Empress's knight-commanders turning on her all but ended the war in the rebellion's favor due to the location that his men were defending." He placed the mug down and folded his hands behind his back. Ruby stayed silent while he walked past her to look out the window. "There are more people living in peace than ever before. However, that peace is fragile. It relies on the dedication of a very small fraction of the population who heroically sacrifice themselves every day to maintain it."

Lightning flashed, striking one of Beacon's smaller towers. After the thunder receded, he continued. "Your mother was one of them. One of the best and brightest of her generation. She knew the risks and chose to fight every threat that arose."

"I know that. Well, not directly, but I've heard stories."

"I doubt that anyone knows the true scope of the threat presented by the Anathema, but that of the Grimm is very real." The feeling of the room shifted while he spoke. The frantic energy that she'd unleashed dissipating into the ticking of the gears and pattering of the rain. "Despite our best efforts, we cannot expand beyond Vale's natural defenses. And beyond those walls dwell Grimm that have not been seen for decades, slowly growing in strength and cunning. They cannot overwhelm us right now, but if our defenses are disrupted, then countless people will die."

"How many died to the investigations this year?"

"Within Vale, none. And within the past decade, only four." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Unfortunately, three non-confirmed Anathema fatalities occurred last year: Quinton Pewter, engineering student who fought off a White Fang attack without an awakened Aura; Gemini Burns, financial analyst promoted to VP of his bank only eight months after being hired; and Violet Parr, student at Torch Academy who displayed multiple, silver Semblances."

"And how many were scared off of becoming Hunters because of what could happen to them?"

He didn't respond.

Again, they stood in silence, the only sounds caused by the storm or the tower. The pressure emanating from Professor Ozpin was rolling in waves, in and out, while Ruby waited. She could have done something, forced him to side with her, but that wouldn't give her the answer to her real question.

"Increasing the chance of an Anathema slipping through is not politically possible." His words hung in the air. "I stand by my decision. If you can come up with a theory for a better means of identifying them, then you will have your introduction."

Ruby held her hands in tight fists. "I'll go get the others." She turned on one heel and stomped toward the elevator.

He spoke again right before she pushed the button. "Ruby, you are a very talented Huntress. I hope that you apply those talents appropriately."

Ruby blinked twice before turning around. "What?"

He smiled. "Considering the success of teams RWBY and JNPR, I would be confident in most of your abilities to handle actual missions."

"Not that. What talents?"

"Your symbol is glowing." He looked right above her eyes.

Ruby checked her reflection in the elevator door. It was faint, but there. She gulped and pushed the down button. "Umm, thanks for letting me know?"

She rolled another question around in her head. When the doors opened, she glanced back one more time. "Professor Ozpin, do you believe that gods exist?"

He waited until she stepped into the elevator to respond. "Yes, Ruby. Yes I do."

Professor Ozpin smiled as the doors closed.


	36. Chapter 6-2

Weiss descended into the morning fog under her own power. A large number of topics needed to be discussed before breakfast and if they didn't arrive at the dining hall soon, the wrong people would have questions. Hopefully Blake would be able to run interference until then.

A moment after Weiss landed, Yang crashed into the ground hard enough to leave imprints an inch deep. Weiss shot her a withering look.

Yang responded with an eye roll. "Alright, what's so important that you woke us up this early to talk about it?"

"The first of them is you." Weiss pointed at Yang's nose.

Yang blinked at her like a deer caught in headlights. Then she shifted into a silly grin and leaned forward, hands on her hips."Oh really, and why am I so important, hmm?"

Weiss turned a half lidded gaze towards her. "That would be much more effective if you were wearing your combat outfit, not your uniform."

"I can fix that." Yang unbuttoned her collar with a flick of her fingers. Her voice and movements were perfectly smooth, without any flinching or hesitation.

"That's actually a perfect example of what I'm talking about. You're moving with less hesitation and tension than you have been for weeks, with a single exception." Weiss took a moment to glance her scroll, they still had plenty of time. "What did Ruby do to you? You broke down and now all of that stress is gone. That doesn't just happen."

"Yeah, well. She pissed off the demon, so it punished me for listening to her and not doing enough fun things." Yang cross her arms and turned away. "And when he was finished I felt better. No headaches, no random visions, no voices telling me to do things."

"Were those headaches the same as the ones that happened when I was doing something to you."

"Yeah, the demon really, really doesn't like me even thinking about listening to anyone else."

Weiss held her eyes closed for a moment and called up memories of all of the medical texts she'd read. "And this demon can get rid of the stress as easily as he caused it, even though that's not how stress works. It doesn't just go away, especially considering how affected you were."

"I don't know." Yang threw her hands into the air. "Yes? Doesn't yours get pissed at you for that too?"

"No, it's almost completely silent." The only voice that ever yelled at her was her own, but her strongest tool for helping Yang was sympathy that both of them being in the same situation produced. Of course, that also limited the questions she could plausibly ask.

One part of Weiss wanted to know if Yang had ever asked the various other beings living in her head how it worked, but she knew that even bringing up the topic would be unproductive. If she'd already gone this long without asking, then Yang was unlikely to take the suggestion well and the demon would cause more problems for her even considering it. "Fine, all of your previous problems vanished like magic. Why are you being snippy toward your sister?"

"Because she lied to me!"

"That's what's making you mad?" Weiss asked with just enough acid to make Yang flinch. "Everyone lies. If you haven't forgotten, we've all lied to each other about incredibly important things. You've known that she's been keeping secrets since you arrived at Beacon."

"Not secrets about my mother!" Yang slammed her fist into a tree, shattering the bark.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your mother dead?"

"No." Yang waved a finger at Weiss. "My mom is dead; my mother is a bit- bad person who abandoned her family to do who knows what in the wilderness."

"Family problems are tough." Weiss laid a hand on Yang's shoulder and squeezed. "What did your mother do?"

"Abandoned me and Ruby. Then, when mom died, she left us alone." Yang grabbed Weiss' hand. "Uncle Qrow came back as often as he could, but she never visited, not once. Even though she's been to the island we lived on since then. I know because people mentioned seeing her whenever I went looking."

"Why would you look for her then? I seems like she's done everything she can to sever her ties to you."

"Because I wanted to know why she did it." Her grip tightened. "If she didn't want me, then why did she have me? Why did she stay with dad for years, then abandon him?"

Weiss returned the squeeze. "There are some people who shouldn't be parents. It sounds like she was one of them and… Maybe she realized this."

"That doesn't excuse her."

"No it doesn't."

Yang sighed, the fight leaving her eyes. "So, besides my bad family, what else did you want to talk about."

Weiss grinned and stepped back. In some ways, this was a more sensitive topic. "Your good family."

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Ruby has a very interesting theory about-"

"The blessed by the gods thing?" Yang interrupted with a snap.

Weiss gave her a look. "Yes, the blessed by Mars theory."

"It makes sense to me. She's got something special going on and that would explain most of it." Yang nodded and smiled. "Though, she thinks that the rest of us were too and that's obviously wrong."

Weiss watched the lack of realization on Yang's face, keeping her own frustration with that away from her expression. Ruby was getting closer and closer to the truth and both sisters had completely delusional thoughts about how their abilities related to each other. Though, that wasn't very fair to Ruby, who was coming from a place of relative ignorance. "What did you tell her when she asked you about it?"

"That I hadn't talked to any."

"Why?!" Weiss shouted, running her fingers through her hair. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I haven't." Yang's eyes flashed red. "All that I've talked to is a demonic… thing. What did you do?"

"Obviously I didn't tell her the truth." Weiss could remember her confusion on that day as if it were yesterday. She had thought that the man was either a stress induced hallucination or an Amathema Sorcerer, with a very strange Semblance, who had come to warn her of the path ahead. The fight for her life, large amount of blood loss, and lack of awareness of his presence from anyone else there made the former much more likely, until she heard Ruby's theory. "I said something ambiguous that she could take a number of different meanings from. I'm still trying to figure out who to claim."

"I really can't see you as the type of person who'd have faith like that."

"I'm probably not." Weiss would have agreed wholeheartedly if this were a normal situation. But, Ruby's theory made a large number of pieces about the Anathema, or rather the Exalted, all fit together. "However, it is, if nothing else, a very useful lie. Ruby's incredibly close to figuring everything out, if we can pull the wool over her eyes with her own idea, then that opens up an incredible amount of space."

"I really don't feel comfortable lying about this."

"What makes this any different from the other ones? The lies about your very nature?"

"That's different. If I didn't do that, then she'd…" Yang drifted away, unwilling to say what she was certain of.

Weiss watched her teammate very carefully and ran through each of her potential plans. Yang had just gotten back to normal and pressing her too hard would be dangerous when combined with how aggressive Ruby was being. She would need to be broken of some of her ideas soon, but now was not the right time. Especially with Blake's potential support tied up in distracting their friends.

"Don't worry about it. I'll come up with something for both of us." Weiss waved her hand. "I'll be spending a lot of time with Ruby over the next few days and I'm sure she'll bring it up."

"Why are you gonna be doing that?"

"She asked for assistance with rebuilding her weapon and it'll give me time to figure out what she can hear." Weiss took a split second to consider what else to reveal. "It will also let me convince her to pursue less dangerous projects and hopefully relieve some of her pent up aggression."

Yang squinted and crossed her arms. "And what exactly does that mean? What're you going to do to my sister?"

"Oh, Yang." Weiss grinned wickedly and stepped forward. _She ran a nail up the blonde's arm while looking right into her eyes, her other hand completely unnoticed._ "I can be very distracting when I want to be."

"Y-You…" Yang backed up, sputtering. "You'd better not do anything to her!"

"Despite your similarities, your sister won't respond to the same things you do." Weiss pulled back and turned around, still smiling. "If I give her enough puzzles and interesting things to research, then, with luck, she'll forget about antagonizing our teachers for a while."

"You just did something, didn't you?" Yang glanced around, eyes flashing with a bright glint.

"What makes you think that?"

"Just got a feeling about it… Right here." Yang tapped right above her heart.

"I'm glad someone else can tell that now. Now that I know it's possible, I've wanted to figure it out for myself. But, I have more important skills to develop first."

"Like what?" Yang started looking up and down, eyes passing over what Weiss had done without noticing it.

"A defense against that very ability." She focused on her Aura again, trying to wrap Essence around herself like she had just done to Yang. The veil spiraled inward, but her Aura pushed through the barrier before it could actually form. "I haven't managed it yet, but I feel close."

"That's cool, but… Uhh...Why?"

"My hope is that, if I can accomplish this, I'll find a solution to the glowing problem." Being able to access her full power without risking exposure, like Blake, would be such a boon that it was more than worth trying many other things that she wasn't sure would ever work. "Also, we're not the only ones who can sense Aura. I want to be prepared for the future."

"You actually think we'll be around that long."

"I'm going to make sure of it." Weiss snapped her fingers and unwove what she had hidden.

"I- How? Why you little!"

Weiss conjured a glyph and launched herself into the air, laughing as she left Yang to re-button her shirt.

* * *

Ruby slid the blade along under the power hammer. _Steel rang against steel as it took shape, curving exactly as much as she needed it to. The waves from the excessively powerful strikes curving the metal beyond the impact surface, so it finished much faster._ That made two of three pieces complete, she just needed the Starmetal insert to finish them off.

"Ahh, perfect." She slid it next to the finished pile.

"That's still ridiculous," Weiss grumbled from the lathe across the room, a stack of not entirely correct barrels next to her. Each of them was close to what Ruby needed, very close, but she needed her fits to be perfect so they had to be scrapped. "You slide a piece of metal across the machine haphazardly and somehow, in a single pass, you manage to get exactly what you were looking for."

"Aww, Weiss." Ruby dashed over with a burst from her Semblance. "It's not that hard."

Ruby nudged her partner to the side and took over. Another piece of stock slotted in and she spun it up to an irresponsible speed. _The vision of her design sang to the strings of the heavens, lending her movements more grace than she naturally possessed. The bit bored into the piece, its edges channeling power through the Dust crystals at the right times to change the inner structure of the barrel while also pushing the melted shavings free._ Within a minute, she had a new barrel extension.

Weiss squinted at her and took over manning the machine. She picked up another piece and slid it in. As the lathe spun, she mimicked Ruby's movements exactly. While Ruby couldn't give her the inspiration, she did try to strum the song, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as effective because this piece needed a slightly slower movement to form.

The metal started smoking halfway through the process. Weiss hit the emergency stop before any more damage was done.

"Hmm," Ruby considered the machine and the result. "You needed to be a little slower or have more lubrication."

"I used fifty percent more than you did and also drilled more slowly."

"Mmmh," Ruby nodded. "That's the problem. This particular pattern needed a very fast movement to activate the Dust enough to make the shavings slip out. But it needed to be a little slower than my first one and you went slower than that."

"And how exactly am I supposed to know to do that when it goes against every safety manual and your own instructions about the best way to use the machine? Moreover, it also ignores the fact that all of the extra heat is highly chaotic and would result in changes to the rest of the metal."

"Ahh, well… It's supposed to do that so we can save on tempering time later." Ruby grinned and rubbed her neck. "I guess if you can't see the pattern you just have to lube up even more so you can drill deep without getting stuck or damaging her."

Weiss stared at her for a moment, eyes moving between Ruby's own and her lips. They were quivering from the effort it took not to smirk.

"What?"

"I refuse to believe that you don't know what you just said." Weiss waved a finger in Ruby's face. "You are not that innocent."

"Uhhh…" Ruby made a silly face with a lopsided grin. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Weiss crossed her arms and loudly tapped her heel.

Ruby kept the look until the pressure appeared around Weiss. Then she sighed and shook her head. "You're supposed to laugh at jokes, Weiss."

"How was that a joke? All you did was say an innuendo. There was no setup, no punchline. Thanks to my knowledge of your reading habits, it wasn't even that unexpected."

"Yang would've laughed."

"Yes. Yes she would've."

"Weiss." Ruby looked away. "Do you really want to be here?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Of course I do. I want to see how you do everything."

"Ever since we started actually working, you've been complaining."

"That's because nothing that you've been doing makes any sense. All of the theory was consistent, if different from what the books said. I could understand why you were making the design choices that you were. But this-" she waved a hand at the lathe- "I can't do anything with this. It's like fortune is on you side and a bad idea with a thousand-to-one chance of working, which might save you half of the effort, works every time."

"It's…" Ruby clenched her fists and shook them, but eventually dropped her arms. That wasn't a bad way of describing how it felt. "You're right. I've been doing everything by sound and knowledge of what the future of the piece is. Once I know where to go I just sort of imprint that onto reality and it all works out. I guess I was just hoping it would work for you too."

"Why would you even think that?"

"The way I see it-" Ruby started counting on her fingers- "you've gotta be blessed by someone too. The techniques that I'm using should be able to be taught. They're just like weapon forms, martial arts, or probably spells. At least, they feel like those."

She held her hands out and focused on the different energies. They rang out to her own ears and while she could hear Weiss' Aura doing something, she saw no recognition of the loud music on her partner's face. "I thought that if another one of the Maidens blessed you, you'd be able to pick them up."

"Why would you assume that I received something that potent?" Weiss stepped away, walking back towards their workbench. "Assuming your theory is right, it's far more likely that a minor god took notice of me than a being that powerful."

Ruby couldn't really argue with that, so she went back to the machine. Yang was the only one with an exceptionally loud Aura; it drowned out anyone else nearby whenever she did something big. It also sort of hurt to listen to Yang too deeply. Blake's was barely a whisper, even during sparring class when she was definitely using it, and Weiss' sounded like a normal person's. Which was not how she sounded several days ago.

That was one of the many mysteries that she didn't have the time to figure out right now. Her dreams were full of Crescent Rose and how beautiful her darling scythe would be once she and Weiss finished. Oh, she could barely wait until she made her own dreams come true. With renewed vigor, she went back to her machines.

For quite some time, she worked at them without paying too much attention to anything else. Shaping metal like this was something she missed so much. The turning of the gears, the vibrations in the floor, and the smell of Dust in the air. Forging weapons was soothing in a way that nothing else was. Though even it couldn't relieve all of the tightness that she felt. It was like her muscles were coiled, ready to strike at any moment, even if she didn't want them to be.

As soon as the largest pieces were ready, Ruby turned back to Weiss. She'd been working on something else on her scroll. It was something unrelated to building Crescent Rose, so she probably could've done it somewhere else, but she still stuck around the lab despite all of the noise.

Weiss glanced up, caught Ruby's eyes with her own, and smiled. Then she went back to her work. Ruby held her mouth tightly shut, she knew Weiss would yell at her again if she cheered, but she wanted to so badly. Even if they were no closer to figuring out what her blessing meant, Weiss still stuck around. Though that did remind Ruby of one of her other questions.

She closed her eyes and focused, making red light spill from her forehead. When she opened them, the bugs were there again. They flew through the room in a chaotic swarm, passing through the machines and Weiss. They would have gone through Ruby as well, but they gave any burning Dust a wide berth. Besides flying around, they didn't seem to really be doing anything.

"Hey."

Ruby jumped at the sound of Nora's voice. She looked over her shoulder to find the girl standing behind her with Jaune's shield in one hand.

"Um.," Nora rolled back and forth on her heels. "Are you almost done? I've got a bunch I need to do."

"Pretty close." Ruby held her face very still because one of the flies went through Nora's eye and flinching would be super weird. "What're you working on?"

"Oh, well…" Nora held the shield up. It had a large dent on one side. "I kinda hit Jaune too hard while we were sparring and now it doesn't fold right, so I need to fix it. Normally I'd have Ren do that, but he's busy doing something much more important."

Ruby quirked her head to the side.

"He's making us special dinner pancakes with duck gravy syrup!"

"That sounds tasty."

"Ohh, it's the best. Well not completely the best, that'd be breakfast pancakes, but it's pretty close to the best. Having them a few hours later for dinner that is, or maybe it's a few hours earlier… I guess it depends on how you look at it. Anyway I don't want to rush you, but those pancakes don't last long. So..." Nora gave the workbench a sideways glance.

"I've got two more pieces to do, then it's all yours." Ruby slid another blade section in and started it up. As she worked, she kept the red glow going so she could watch the bugs fly around. They avoided Weiss' scroll just like the Dust lamps in the ceiling.

Nora hummed along from behind her, not getting in the way while she worked. A couple of times, the other girl whistled as a big spark shot from the blade piece.

"So, umm…" She hoped back and forth, not meeting Ruby's eyes. "You were kind of looking at Weiss a lot while you were working."

"Uhh…" Ruby gulped. There wasn't a good way to respond to that. "Yeah."

"Do you… like her?" Nora looked toward Weiss, who hadn't reacted.

"Of course I do." Ruby held a hand to her chest. "She's my partner after all."

"Oh…" Nora's cheeks went bright red. "Ohhh. I… I need to tell Jaune so he stops."

"Tell him what?"

"That he should stop going after Weiss because you two are together-together and-"

"Woah, what? Hold up." Ruby waved her hands frantically, barely not hitting anything while her face burned."We're not… That's… She's just my partner and…"

Nora stared at her, confusion all over her face.

Ruby groaned. "Nora. Do you know what my name is?"

"Nope!" Nora smiled far too widely. "You do look really familiar though so if you and Weiss are hanging out a lot, well I guess that makes sense."

"Nora, take out your scroll and navigate to-" Ruby relayed the path to Blake's note and waited for Nora to finish reading it… again.

"Ohh, you're her team leader and _team_ partner… Umm, my bad." Nora giggled and looked away. Ruby joined in, giggling awkwardly. Both slowly increased their volume until Weiss looked up and shook her head at them.

"Yeah, that's it." Ruby stepped back to the machine and put the finishing touches on her final piece.

"So… While you finish up… We were all kind of wondering, what exactly happened in Professor Ozpin's office." Nora flinched away when Ruby snapped her head back to her. "Uhh, but you don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"Nora." Ruby reached out towards her with a soft voice. "I…"

"You were terrifying back there. Like, I don't even know when I last felt like that and… Actually, no, I do. It was when Weiss did her big speech in the dining hall and I thought about what would happen."

Ruby dashed forward and wrapped her arms around Nora. The girl tensed up briefly, then joined in. "I'm sorry. I just… I just wanted to actually get him to talk to me and that was the best way to do it and I… I wasn't thinking about how it might feel to anyone else."

"What was so important that you'd do that?"

"I want them to stop the investigations." Ruby whispered and Nora tensed up more. "The way they're done is wrong and even though I know Professor Ozpin can't stop them himself, he's the one who can open the doors to the people who can and then I can-"

Weiss coughed very loudly, not looking up from her scroll.

"Umm, anyway. That's why and I'm really sorry if that reminded you and Ren of… well you know…"

After a long breath, Nora mumbled into Ruby's shoulder. "Was that one of your goddess powers? I mean, that still sounds kinda crazy, but Ren and Pyrrha both vouched for you so..."

"Yeah, it was." Ruby paused, trying to figure out how to describe exactly what she did. Weiss' typing hadn't slowed down, but she did turn her ear towards Ruby. "I made something out of… destiny? I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it was like a bundle of energy which could only be used for specific things. Being scary was one of them and, uhh, I've never done that before so I had no idea how strong it would be."

"Do you still have it?"

"Nope, it's all used up. I could make another one, but it kind of took a long time to get the first one formed."

"Oh…" Nora pulled away and looked at Ruby's hands. "Can you give one of these things to someone else?"

"I don't know." Ruby couldn't see a reason why she couldn't, though they probably wouldn't be able to use them the same way. "Do you want me to try on you?"

"No!" Nora jumped away and crossed her arms in an x.

"Okay, okay."

"Sorry, it's just… I'm not really comfortable with anyone doing stuff like that because-"

"Yep, yep. I get it." Ruby couldn't imagine what being under Anathema control would be like, but it sounded awful.

"Do it to me then," Weiss called out, looking up from her scroll.

"You'd just let her do that to you?" Nora gaped at her.

"Yes, I trust her."

"Aww, Weiss." Ruby clasped her hands together and cheered.

"You dolt." Weiss shook her head and stood up. "We still have etching and wire laying to finish."

"You want to help with those?"

"No." She smiled. "I want to see how you decide to do them."


	37. Chapter 6-3

Ruby blinked and the tunnels beneath Beacon became red. The bugs were down there too, avoiding the Dust channels and Professor Oobleck's thermos. All of the normal looking ones were present along with one that was new. A big, grasshopper looking thing… with a white carapace… that had red lines along it… and glowing red eyes.

"Doctor Oobleck." Ruby watched the bugs fly through him. Over the past few days of using this ability she'd gotten used to watching this. "Are there any bug Grimm?"

"Insectoid Grimm." He stroked his chin. "There are quite a number, from the lowly Killermantis to the mighty Deathstalker. Overall they make up a small proportion of the Grimm species encountered when compared to the number of insects to other species of animal, but they're still numerous enough to have their own category."

"Uhh, both of those are pretty big, aren't they?"

"Quite so."

"What about really tiny ones? Like, the size of your fist at most?" Ruby held her hand up to compare and it was pretty close.

"No, the Grimm tend toward forms that are large and threatening to man. While a diminutive insect may be terrifying if it appears in the right place, it would be very easily killed by even a child with their Aura unlocked."

Ruby nodded. That made sense; if they'd be that fragile, then something like being unseen and able to pass through walls would be the only way that those type of Grimm could exist. Though, she didn't know why it was just sitting around and not doing anything else. And that was her biggest worry.

"What about stealthy ones? Like… ghost Grimm?"

"Well, there are the Geists, spectral Grimm that can possess objects and fight differently depending on what they enter."

"Can they become invisible?"

"Oh heavens no." He took a long drink from his thermos. "I've never heard of a Grimm with such a power. Though, if they were natively invisible, that would explain why none have been discovered."

"Gotcha." Ruby nodded at the same time the Grimm bug flapped its wings.

"Why the sudden interest? You've never asked about rare species before."

"Well, you know…" Ruby laughed awkwardly. "I just figured that it'd be good to know more about our biggest enemy."

Doctor Oobleck turned around and glanced at one of the other doors. "Well, if you wish to see the Grimm currently in captivity, this is the floor to do it. Professor Port brought back an incredible number from his last capture mission."

"Was it actually a mission this time?"

"Ruby…" He sighed. "It is incredibly uncommon for something like that-"

"I know!" Ruby shouted. "I know that's not how it's supposed to happen, but… But can we just, go to the lab and not talk about it?"

He took a deep breath. "Very well, let's be off to test the prototype!" He patted the new, finally finished, Dust furnace.

Ruby'd gotten it ready while she was taking breaks on Crescent Rose. Weiss kept interrupting by leaving for class, with a large number of dagger glares when Ruby didn't follow her, and Ruby didn't want to do too much more on the esoteric parts of construction without her. It wasn't just that Weiss was interested in weapons design, which was a first among Ruby's friends, but that she'd also caught a few errors which would've taken Ruby a long time to notice.

"Yeah, we can-" Ruby stopped talking when the Grimm bug suddenly twitched. It spun around in the air and buzzed off to the side, flying closer to the Dust channels in the walls than any of the others had ever done.

A swarm of the smaller invisible bugs, that just looked like big flies, followed it. Then even more of the large ones charged through the walls.

Doctor Oobleck gave her a confused look while she stared at the wall.

"Umm, is there anything happening in that lab right now?"

"That is one of the general labs which anyone can have access to. Let's go take a look, shall we!" Doctor Oobleck dashed over to the door. "It looks like Professor Goodwitch reserved it a few hours ago for Sorcery experiments."

Ruby's mind conjured up the image of those books she wrote on last week. A bunch of invisible bug Grimm didn't seem like they should be the direct cause of whatever was throwing the astrology math off, but they could be related to it.

"Is there any chance we could see how it's going?" Ruby gave him her widest smile as the pressure appeared.

Doctor Oobleck stroked his chin again as the pressure built. "Hmm."

Ruby considered what to do. She hadn't done this too much to him yet and it didn't seem like it would be too bad. It was also really important to know exactly what those Grimm bugs were doing.

She bit the bullet and shoved it to the side. _They needed to see this._

"I see no reason why we shouldn't! It could be very educational." Doctor Oobleck shouted as he knocked on the door. After a moment, he opened it to a blood curdling scream. Both he and Ruby dashed in with their Semblances, skidding to a halt next to Professor Goodwitch.

She had her riding crop pointed at the human shaped swarm of Grimm bugs. Her eyes were locked on it, tracking it while it writhed, and her cheeks had a greenish tint. The Grimm tore at whatever was underneath, flying away with bits of flesh between their pincers.

Ruby blinked and saw what was actually there, a vaguely human creature being torn apart, eaten alive. It wasn't human, that much was obvious enough. Neither humans nor Faunus had yellow blood or a giant, misshapen head. But it screamed just like one of them.

She immediately flickered the red light back on so the swarm covered its body. Her hands clapped over her mouth while she clenched the muscles in her throat to keep her lunch down.

"Bartholomew, why do you have a student with you?" She shouted without taking her eyes off of it.

"I-I" He stammered, pulling his thermos out and expanding it into a fiery pole-mace. "I thought that she would benefit from observing your success. Obviously I was mistaken about some aspects of this plan. Please tell me that's not intentional."

"Of course it isn't." She snapped, flicking the body back when it tried to lunge away. "It is, however, the recorded result of the spell. Though, far more gruesome than I expected."

The screaming stopped when the head fell off, but the body kept twitching.

"The spell is obviously faulty in some manner. Now that I've confirmed this, I can begin working on fixing it." Professor Goodwitch continued watching the body until all of the Grimm bugs began flying away. The spell probably wasn't the problem, but Ruby couldn't just say that without inviting a lot of questions.

"Maam." Ruby said, rubbing her tongue against the top of her mouth to get rid of the taste. "Are you going to try my suggestion to the spell first?"

"Your suggestion? You haven't-" Professor Goodwitch narrowed her eyes and paused. "No, wait. I remember now. It was your suggestion."

"Yeah, the energy constant… Though…" Ruby paused and considered what to say, _looking at the ways that this conversation could go._ It was another very risky one, but she couldn't let something like that happen again if she could do anything about it. "There was something else I've thought about, especially after watching... that."

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow.

"Well." Ruby rolled her head back and forth. "What about surrounding it with a circle of burning Dust?"

"Why do you think that would help?"

"Uhh, well…" Ruby gulped. "It seemed like that… thing… was trying to escape. This would keep it contained."

"Considering how quickly it disintegrated, I don't believe that would be a problem."

"What if it didn't? What if it was actually able to fight back, then the Dust might make it back down. Sort of like a big show of force in front of a dangerous animal."

She watched Ruby very carefully, but didn't respond.

"It also could help out with the overall energy in the air. If you keep that consistent, you'll be able to force the interior of the circle to assume a steady state and force any impurities out. "Ruby spun her lie with terms that were hopefully just technical enough.

"She has proven to be remarkably gifted regarding Dust patterns and making sure that they burn consistently," Doctor Oobleck chimed in, hefting the furnace. "Our most recent build is leagues ahead of any other in its class."

"I see." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and looked at Ruby. "I'll take your suggestion under consideration in that case. I won't be able to perform another test for several days, but when I can, do you wish to observe?"

"Umm…" On one hand, Ruby might be able to figure out something else going wrong and keep whatever was being summoned alive. On the other hand, if she had to pay that much attention to it, she would hurl. "I think I'm good."

"Understandable." She nodded. "In the meantime, I would suggest continuing with your own experiments."

"Very well." Doctor Oobleck stepped out the door. "Let's get this going then."

Ruby followed him, grimacing as a Grimm bug with a bit of flesh flew past her face.

"Ruby, is there anything that you want to tell me about this?" Doctor Oobleck said softly, gaze piercing her own. "You are a brilliant girl who may have revolutionized dust engines if your theories are correct, but as far as I knew sorcery was not among your talents."

"I- Well." Ruby wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, it would be important to let him know about a new species of Grimm. On the other hand, it didn't seem like anyone else was capable of seeing them. And on the third hand, he'd still taken part in the investigations. "Can I tell you later?"

"After you've had time to think about how to explain it?"

She nodded quickly.

"Acceptable," He said, tone normal again. "For now, let's focus on getting this armor working."

That she was all too happy to do.

* * *

Blake looked up from her book and watched her teammates while she digested the last lesson: the meditation on stillness. It was a method of emptying your mind and achieving perfect focus on your Aura. She'd need to thank Ren for the recommendation later, though she wasn't the one who needed it most right now.

Weiss was sitting on a chair in the center of the room, tapping her fingers on her knee, while Ruby elegantly gestured around her. Normally Blake wouldn't have used that word to describe Ruby, but her movements couldn't be anything else. They started almost three hours ago and as far as Blake could tell, nothing had happened.

Supposedly, Ruby was creating something special and attaching it to Weiss' Aura. Instead of activating her own, she continued to dance around the other girl with her eyes closed, softly humming to herself as she moved. She hadn't said a word since she started, while Weiss sat in place and watched her with barely concealed annoyance. She kept glancing a a pile of books on Ruby's desk, no doubt all of the class projects Ruby had been neglecting.

Something about both of them was off, but Blake couldn't put her finger on what it was. She supposed it could be stress caused by being cooped up in the workshop with each other for an entire day because she certainly wouldn't have been able to spend hours upon hours with a single person like that. Peace, focus, rest: all of them required a place to herself, without interruptions or important responsibilities. It was easier to find that at Beacon than at her home in Menagerie, though not as easy as when she was with the White Fang. Living in the woods had some advantages.

"Hello!" Yang called as she slammed the door open. She spun into the room with a big paper bag in her arms. "I brought-"

"Shh." Weiss held a finger up to her lips and hissed while Ruby suddenly moved. "She's trying to concentrate."

Yang blinked several times while she watched Ruby and ended by shaking her head. "Fine, no chocolates for you." She fished a piece out of her bag and tossed it into her mouth, smacking her lips incredibly loudly as they closed.

"Ohh, so good." Yang practically moaned as she walked to her bed. "Too bad Weiss can't have any."

Weiss rolled her eyes and went back to watching Ruby.

Yang tossed a piece onto Blake's bed and settled into her own, eating like a normal person.

Blake picked the ball up and bit into it. Smooth cream practically exploded from the chocolate shell. It was one of her favorite flavors and delicious, but not nearly as good as Yang had implied. She mmhed in appreciation.

A moment later, Yang's face crept over the side of the bed. "Hey, Blake."

"Yes?"

She had her mouth held in a tight smile, obviously trying not to laugh. "Do you like my cr-"

"Really?" Weiss snapped, cutting her off.

While she was thankful for the interruption, _Blake still listened for Weiss' real meaning. 'Why would you say that in front of your sister?'_

"Where do _you_ get off telling me to stop when…" Yang cut herself off when she turned around. She locked eyes with Weiss and squinted. "Oh, I get it. It's on. I'll beat you at your own game, just you wait."

Blake groaned and buried her face in her book. They were going to be at it again. She had a few days of peace and quiet and not having to watch everything she said for phrases that could turn into unintentional innuendos.

Thankfully, both of them settled down into silence again. For another half an hour Blake had time to focus on herself, the way her body felt as she slowly inhaled, the way her muscles felt with each breath, the way her Aura moved in rhythm with the rest of her body. Then Ruby opened her eyes, one hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Why doesn't it fit?!" She shouted, shaking both fists into the air.

Yang snickered.

"What do you mean?" Weiss stared at Ruby.

"The Quiver energy I wove for you. I'm trying to actually attach it, but it doesn't fit! Your Aura's too big." Ruby pointed at Weiss and drew a big circle around her head. "It just slips off whenever I try to make it work."

"Hey, sis." Yang called.

"What?!"

"Open up."

Ruby blinked at her twice before opening her mouth wide. A chocolate flew from Yang's bed, landing right on Ruby's tongue. She chomped down and nodded very quickly.

"Mmph, strwbrry my favrt. "Ruby mumbled with her mouth full. "Thanks, Yang. I needed that."

"No prob."

"Was that from the little chocolate shop on fourteenth?"

"You know it." Yang made an incredibly loud chewing noise.

"Ohhh," Ruby squealed. "I love that place. I need to get more next time we go downtown."

"Didn't you have class today? When did you have the time to go into Vale?" Weiss glared at Yang.

"I did have class today." Yang threw another chocolate into Ruby's mouth. "I just decided not to go."

"You can't just skip class whenever you feel like it." Weiss stood up from her chair so she could stare into Yang's eyes.

"Eh, it was just one of the martial arts classes. I've already got all of the techniques I need down and they won't let us do more than one-on-one sparring."

"It's still important to go to classes." Weiss cross her arms. "Right, Ruby?"

"Hmm…" Ruby paused to think, then lept into the air to catch another chocolate. "Nope, Yang's awesome and candy's better than homework."

Weiss took a deep breath and sat back down, turning away from both of them.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby walked over to the bed. "Can I try to do something to you?"

"What is it?"

"Give you the blessing I was trying to make for Weiss."

Yang waited a long time to respond. "Uhh, sure."

"Okay, here's goes!" Ruby clapped her hand onto her sister's shoulder, then pulled back a few seconds later. "Well… That didn't work either. Blake?"

"I doubt you'll do any better with me." Blake shook her head. Without knowing exactly what Ruby was doing, she didn't want to commit to anything.

"You're probably right." Ruby sighed and walked back to Weiss. "Did you get anything out of it?"

"Not particularly, but it also didn't work." Weiss shook her head. "It didn't take that long for you to do. Now that you know about this problem, maybe the next one will be better?"

"Yeah, but what'm I gonna do with this thing." Ruby held up her hand, there was nothing on it. No pulse of Aura or strange whirls in the air, nothing. Though, she was sure that Ruby could perceive something.

Blake had never thought of understanding Aura as a high priority before, but now it seemed like something that should be done sooner than later. If that was a common Anathema ability, then it shouldn't take all that long. Especially because she had been able to follow a lot during Professor Goodwitch's introductory lecture about sorcery.

"Give it to Jaune?" Yang said.

"Well… His Aura's pretty strong, but nowhere near where any of your's are." Ruby tapped her chin. "I guess it couldn't hurt, though I'm really not sure what he'd do with a blessing of wit."

"Pass a test?" Weiss said snidely.

Yang snorted. Blake coughed.

"Weiss," Ruby gaped. "Why are you being so mean all of a sudden?"

Weiss met Blake's eyes, then turned back to Ruby. "I've been dealing with a large number of frustrations."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. When she ntoiced Ruby's eyes flickering towards her, Blake covered her face with her book. Weiss was planning something and she wasn't about to ruin it.

"Okay, so… What can I do to help?"

"Start taking your, and Yang's, studies seriously for one."

"Hey!" Yang shouted and tossed something at Weiss, though it hit the floor instead.

Weiss ignored her, instead stepping towards where Ruby was. "You're supposed to be our leader and I'd bet you've skipped almost as many as she has."

"I have not skipped that many." Ruby lied.

Weiss tapped her foot very loudly.

"Okay so… Maybe I have. But none of our teachers are going to remember me being there anyway."

"That's no excuse. How many have you skipped this week? I know it's at least four because we're in them together."

Ruby mumbled under her breath.

"How many?"

"Seven."

"You've only had nine!"

"I was busy working on stuff!"

"You're supposed to be representing all of us as leader."

"No one can remember me so it doesn't matter."

For a long time all Blake could hear was heavy breathing.

"You're right. It doesn't matter if you attend class." Weiss' tone became icy.

"See."

"But it does matter that you aren't because you're missing out on important information."

"I'm pretty sure I could skip any test and still pass all of mine." Yang chimed in.

"We also have other responsibilities. We're the elite freshmen team right now and need to act like it." Weiss partially lied. _Blake heard the implications behind her words that were surely also directed at Yang. 'If you skip all of your classes and still outperform students who don't, it'll be incredibly suspicious.'_

"Really, other responsibilities?" Yang snapped. "How's finding that Anathema woman going?"

"I haven't started."

"What?" Yang jumped up from her bed. "Why not?!"

"Because the last time I got the information before we were ready, you two ignored the plan and charged off without either me or Ruby. Had you exhibited an ounce of restraint, we would have been able to stop their operation."

"But we-"

"Yang." Blake lowered her book. "She's not wrong."

Yang gave Blake a look, but backed down, leaning against the bed.

Weiss stepped over to the door. "I'm going to go to get myself coffee before we continue. Does anyone else want anything?"

After all three shook their heads, she left, closing the door behind her.

"So…" Yang crossed her arms. "What was up with that? Weiss was almost as bad at the last time the White Fang argument came up."

"I don't know." Ruby slumped over. "She's been like that all week and the closest that I've managed to get is 'family problems'."

Yang's eyes went wide. "Give me a sec."

She pulled out her scroll and furiously swiped at it. Her eyes darted back and forth as she scanned, evening with a wince. "Oh... That'd do it."

"What happened?" Blake leaned over to catch a glimpse of the screen. She froze at the sight of the headline.

"Worker and Investors criticize SDC leadership over most deadly White Fang raid yet." Yang said while slowly scrolling. "Twenty two dead, fourty injured."

Blake turned away from the image of a young woman with white hair, decapitated.

"The deceased included one Bianca Schnee, twenty seven, the Quality Assurance Manager whose head had been prominently displayed on the factory floor." Yang put her scroll down. "Damn."

Ruby glanced at Blake, then open and closed one hand.

"They shouldn't be like that." Blake whispered. "That's so far beyond anything that they've ever done before."

"Could it have been our fault?" Ruby asked very quietly.

"No." Yang shouted. "How could you even think that?"

"Well..." Ruby began counting on her fingers. "We recently attacked a White Fang warehouse that seems like it had a lot of Dust. We seriously embarrassed someone who was probably one of their leaders, which would leave room for someone more brutal else to step in and recoup their loses."

"This happened deep in South-Eastern Vale, there's no way it was the same group."

"So what if it wasn't Torchwick, maybe the leader of a different faction was weak enough for spillover to hit them. Or someone already vicious wants to take Torchwick's guys for themselves and prove they're the stronger ones."

Blake's blood ran colder with every word. That was exactly how Adam rose to his position so quickly. They went from peaceful protest to armed protest, and from there to organizing riots. Each step seemed like such a small change, but his passion was what pushed them over the line.

"That's…" Yang licked her lips. "How? Why would you think about that?"

"Crescent Rose is almost done so I dreamed about how to break groups again. It was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said with a shrug. "I'll probably do Aura tomorrow so I won't be able to realize these things then."

Blake stated at her, waiting for a laugh or a "just kidding". Dreaming up knowledge and losing it the next day was the most ridiculous ability she'd ever heard of. Though, it did tie in with the memory loss effect.

"Hey, Blake." Yang picked up her bag. "I need some air too. Wanna go for a ride?"

"What, I-" Ruby cut herself off with a sigh. "Have fun I guess."

"Don't worry sis. I plan to." Yang's voice held an unexpected edge to it.

Yang turned towards the locker rooms after she closed the door, not the garage. At the end of the hall, she stopped. "I'm getting my weapons. This time we'll get them and stop this before it gets any worse, no need to worry about cutting loose."

Blake nodded. The last fight proven that she could use her strongest techniques without risking her enemy dying. "You're not going to give us away again, are you?"

Yang shook her head. "No, I don't need to taunt Weiss right now."

"Good."

"Though," Yang tapped her chin with a finger, drawing the word out. She stepped up and leaned on Blake's shoulder. "You never did answer my question."

"What que-" Blake cut herself off, heat rising to her cheeks. She looked away and muttered, "It was delicious."


	38. Chapter 6-4

Nora tipped her head back to get the last drop of the fake soda Ren had made her promise to drink instead of the caffeinated ones, but he didn't ban her from the ones with regular sugar and she'd need all of the extra energy she could get for her plan to work.

"Nora, I'm sure that this makes some sort of sense in your head, but I don't understand what we're doing here," Jaune whispered from right next to her. They were crouched behind an alcove, watching Weiss talk on her scroll in the kitchen. She was talking in really quiet business-esse to someone who sounded like he was probably her dad, so Nora had no clue what anything was about.

"Jaune, it's as simple as simple gets." Nora patted him on the back. "What do you want most in the world?" She flourished her hand in front of him like she was drawing on an imaginary canvas.

"To become an awesome Huntsman." He clenched his fists with a goofy grin on his face that would've had Nora laughing at any moment. But right now was no laughing matter. Nora had a job to do, and if Ren wasn't going to help her then she would have to save her friends the only way she knew how.

"No, no, no." She shook her head, grabbed his shoulders, and applied enough pressure that he started to turn toward Weiss. "What do you want right now?"

"Umm… A hamburger?"

Nora let her head fall forward and sighed. It figured that he'd think with his stomach at a time like this, she needed a more direct approach.

"What? It's dinnertime and I'm really hungry."

"Jaune," she said, forcing extra-perkiness into each word. "All semester you've been going on about how much you like Weiss for… well… because she's pretty."

"It's not than just that. When she says anything I-"

Nora cut him off by placing a finger on his lips. "Exactly! And right now she's-" she glanced around the wall to see Weiss glaring at the fridge. "-not exactly in a good mood, but that's where you come in."

"Come again?"

"It's simple. You're a lovable goof, in fact I'd say you're the most lovable goof at Beacon and she's a stuck-up rich girl who's having family issues. There's no better time for you to turn on that classic Jaune charm and ask her on a romantic date where she can forget about everything else that's bothering her as you sweep her off her feet." Nora twirled around, hoping Jaune would pick up on her meaning. She didn't add that this was also her best idea for how to get Weiss away from the mystery Anathema, that she'd written herself a note about being worried about; before she forgot about it again.

 _Dear future me,_

 _Hiya!_

 _You might be wondering why this note popped up as soon as you opened your scroll. If you are, Yay!, because that means we were right. If you aren't, try again tomorrow. **=^_^=**_

 _The past week has been really weird and really worrying for a bunch of different reasons._

 _First, Ren seemed to remember someone who I couldn't being a member of team RWBY. When I was writing this note, I could name Weiss, Blake, and Yang. That R person was a mystery and that's just weird (maybe you have better luck remembering him now?). I couldn't even figure it out by finding the mystery member in class or at lunch or dinner because team RWBY hasn't been going to those together._

 _Second, Ren and I were still pretty sure that someone on RWBY, who wasn't Weiss because she passed the investigation (THIS IS IMPORTANT, DON'T FORGET THIS), has to be an Anathema, but neither of us had any idea who it is. Considering I also can't remember R, that makes them really suspicious (probably our top suspect and you should be careful around them, whoever he is)._

 _Of course, R could also just be really boring, skip classes a lot, and generally not hang out with anyone. I've forgotten lots of people like that before. But Ren remembers this person and I know everyone that Ren hangs out with. No one's closer to him then we are, so he wouldn't hide this mystery R person from us. At least I hope he wouldn't_

 _If he was, then that would mean that he was either being brainwashed by an Anathema... or brainwashed by some girl. Like that redhead in sparring class he keeps hanging out with (not Pyrrha, thanks goodness). Ren's not like that though and if someone did brainwash him then I'd break all of their evil brainwashing legs to get him back to normal. But, he hasn't been acting any differently so this R person is hopefully just a normal, extremely forgettable, boring guy, like a less lovable Jaune. And if that is the case, then it's Blake or Yang who's actually the monster messing with our head._

 _Third… ummm… there was something really worrying that Weiss told someone to do to them. I can't remember what exactly it was or who was going to do it, but it definitely sounded bad. That confirms that someone's messing with our head! It's just like last time, the more I try to think about what it is that was going to happen, the less I can remember. It's like what happens when I drink too much coffee and just can't think straight, except you know that we've been dry since the beginning of the semester because Ren insisted. **_**_

 _Anyway, Weiss is really smart, but she just doesn't know what the Anathema are like so she's the perfect person for them to go after. At least, that's what Ren said that after what happened to her during her investigation. You were so sure she was the one, but were wrong and now both of you agreed that you shouldn't go to anyone with rumors or random thoughts anymore. You need actual proof. BUT, that doesn't mean you can't try to help the person who you know is safe and on a questionable team._

 _The note called Operation Love Bomb is where everything is(actually read the plan, it doesn't involve building a bomb that makes people love each other no matter how cool that would be. The dust alone would cost a fortune)._

 _Also, I hid a bunch of Ren's dinner pancakes in the bottom of the fridge in a pink plastic container. The gravy's probably seeping into them completely and I'm hoping it's delicious._

 _Boop,_

 _Past Nora_

 _PS- The more times I read this the more I think that Weiss offered to get brainwashed, why else would I keep bringing it up._

 _-more recent Nora_

 _PS2- Brainwashing is definitely probably a thing. It seems like everyone in school , including the teachers, have been having memory lapses when it comes to R, who I was able to confirm is Weiss's partner._

 _-Boop Boop_

The boop was how she knew it was her and the pancakes had been even better the second time. Past-Nora knew exactly what to give as presents.

"So, Jaune. Are you ready for date-master Nora to help you out?" Nora patted him on the back.

"Uhh, sure."

Nora glanced around the corner to make sure Weiss was still distracted. The other girl was scowling silently.

"So, first things first. Before you go up against Weiss, you need practice," she whispered. "I want you to try asking me out."

"Uhh…"

"Come on. You can do it!"

"Okay so…" Jaune gulped. "Nora, I… I really…"

Nora nodded quickly.

"Grah, this is just too awkward." Jaune dropped his head down. "Nora, you're like a sister to me… Actually, you're just like one of my older sisters."

"Uhh. What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you're tiny, full of energy, strong enough to bench press me, and seem to want to give me all sorts of weird advice."

"You forgot incredibly awesome and definitely going to get you that date."

"Ahh… right," he sighed.

"Look, it should be simple. You go in calm and confident. You, and by you I mean me, have a plan to take her to a wonderful concert on Saturday." Nora held his shoulders and squeezed a little bit. "Don't start out by asking her to it. You need to be nice and silly first. Like, you could compliment her earrings and make a-"

Weiss put her phone down and started walking their way.

"No more time to plan, you've got this!" Nora spun Jaune around and shoved him out of their hiding place. He stumbled forward, almost falling on his face.

"Hey there, Weiss." Jaune waved and chuckled nervously, dropping his voice down to the point where it sounded ridiculous.

Weiss crossed her arms and tapped her foot, looking past Jaune directly at the spot Nora was not quite hiding behind.

"Well you see…" he looked right over her shoulder, still chuckling. "You have really nice earrings today."

"What do you want?"

"Well, do you want to go to a concert with me-"

"No."

Nora banged her head against the wall. He'd started asking too soon.

"Oh… Well, if you're busy then maybe we can-"

"No." Weiss stomped. "I'm not going to go out with you and I never will."

"I, uhh."

"Why not?" Nora jumped out from her conspicuous hiding spot. "Jaune's nice. He's funny, a great friend… Umm, really brave, not to mention-"

Weiss turned to Nora and started raising a finger with each point. "He's incredibly lazy, not studying despite getting some of the lowest grades in every class. He's the opposite of charming and romantic. Frankly, I don't know how he even got into Beacon."

"I'm standing right here," Jaune whispered under his breath.

"I know you are and it's something that you need to hear," she snapped, still looking at Nora. "Why would you think I'd ever be interested in him?"

Weiss had seen right through her.

In response, Nora giggled and tapped her fingers together. "Uhh, well.. It seems like you've been really… Annoyed recently and I thought that someone taking you out on a nice date would be, I don't know, nice?"

"And you sent Jaune? Why not Ren?" Weiss' vicious grin made Nora freeze. There was something very mean in Weiss' eyes. Did she know? How could she know?

"Well, you wouldn't be interested in Ren, no way. He's…. He's uhhh, calm, quiet, dependable- Oh wait, no that's something good."

"Exactly, all of those are positive qualities. He thinks about what he's going to do. If you sent him I might've considered it."

"Well…" Nora held her mouth closed. Could she do that? Ask Ren to ask Weiss out to keep her away from danger? But, then they might actually start dating and he'd be busy and… and…

"Weiss?" another girl yelled from down the hall. "It's been almost fifteen minutes, where are you?"

The girl appeared in a flurry of rose petals. "Oh, there you are. Hi, Jaune. Hi, Nora."

Nora squinted at her. This girl looked familiar, but Nora couldn't place her.

"I had a call that I needed to take."

"Was it your family?"

"Yes." Weiss paused, watching the girl carefully. "How did you know?"

"Uhh, Yang figured it out."

"Wonderful."

There was something about the girl, something that nagged the back of Nora's head, just like when she was taking a hard test.

"Have you figured out who you're going to give your thing to?" Weiss continued talking to her, ignoring Jaune and Nora.

"Oh, right!" The girl vanished into another cloud, reappearing next to Jaune. "Hey, Jaune, can I do something to you?"

He looked at Weiss, the leaned over with that fake-confident grin on his face. He spoke in that fake-deep voice of his whenever he was trying to seduce Weiss. "A cute girl like you can do whatever you want to me."

"Jaune, I'm not sure that's a-" Nora started to object. There were a lot of different potential meanings and she had no idea who this girl was.

"Great!" the girl interrupted, practically jumped on Jaune as she patted his back repeatedly. Then bounced in a circle, cheering. "It worked! It worked; it worked; it worked!"

"Uhh, what just happened?" Jaune backed away, voice back to normal.

"I built an energy pattern for Weiss using my Semblance, but it didn't fit. You're small enough that it was able to wrap around you without any problems."

"What?" Nora and Jaune asked at the same time. First Weiss and then this strange redheaded girl came out of nowhere and called Jaune small… Why was everyone being so mean to him today? Wait a minute, small red headed girl?

"Well, it was built for her, but now that I know it can work on you, I can make special ones for everyone else that are actually focused on them." She grabbed Jaune by the shoulders and turned him toward her. "So, do you feel any different?"

"No, not really." Jaune held his arms out, staring at them.

"Darn."

Weiss grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her away. "Ruby, let's go back to our room so you can try it on me again."

"Wait, Ruby?" Nora looked at her very carefully and forced her way through the fog on her mind. Ruby started with R and she lived with Weiss. R was the cute redhead from sparring class to keep hanging out with Ren! And, she was also after Jaune too! Nora's head snapped towards Ruby trying to focus on her, taking in every detail she could

"Yeah." She dashed over to Nora. "Can you remember me again?"

"Sort of." Nora stepped back. This girl was definitely the one who she was forgetting and she just did something to Jaune. "What exactly did you do just now?"

"I built a… Well, I guess it would be sort of a blessing." Ruby looked up and away from them, pacing as she mused. "I built a pattern that has the same aspects of one of the constellations of Mars that should make the person who has it think faster. I figured that since I can use them to do cool things, I should be able to do that to other people too. But it's much harder to design them if they need to just work on someone else instead of being used directly."

Nora kept herself very, very still. There were ways that could be a perfectly normal, not at all dangerous, statement, but she wasn't sure what they were. Weiss didn't seem worried, but she'd also had this done on her before and said it failed.

"I'm trying to figure out what the best ones for everyone else would be. You, Jaune, and Ren should be about as tough, but I'm going to need to work a lot harder to make anything for Weiss, Blake, Yang, or Pyrrha."

"You want to do this for everyone?"

"Yeah, at least, assuming it actually does something."

"Ahh… And by Mars, do you mean, like the goddess that Pyrrha worships?"

"She's just one of them, but also yeah. I'm pretty sure I could do something with the other constellations too, but haven't focused on them too much so it might take a bit." Ruby quirked her head to the side. "Why? Is there a particular one you want? Last time I asked you sort of panicked."

"Ahh…" Nora giggled and backed away more. "I'm good. I was just sort of curious and, uhh, you know it seems pretty… different. Not like anything I've ever heard about before."

Weiss was watching Nora very carefully, but didn't say anything. Nora glanced back wondering how Weiss could see right through her, but also not see the danger she could be getting herself into.

"Anyway, I'm sure the two of you are really busy and we should get out of your hair." Nora grabbed Jaune's arm and started pulling him away.

"We are?" he asked, not fighting back. "But, I wanted-"

"We're very busy with… your sword! Right, Jaune." Nora kept pulled. "We need to work on your accuracy and figure out what else you can do with it."

"Ahh, right." He chuckled and waved to them. "Bye Weiss, bye mystery girl."

As soon as they were out of sight, Nora pulled out her phone and updated the note. R was Ruby and she did something to Jaune. She also wanted to do things to the rest of them. Also, Nora needed to talk to Pyrrha about religion and whether or not this was something that could actually happen.

There was someone that her teammate was sure had one of her goddess' blessings, but Nora couldn't remember who it was. Hopefully it was Ruby, that would make this a lot less worrying.

* * *

Yang spun around and spread her arms wide. Behind her was a long row of bars, convenience stores, and closed Dust shops. A couple of cheap hotels loomed in the distance, discolored facade showing off their quality. "Welcome to crook central."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "This looks like a pretty normal, if run down, street."

"Exactly." Yang pointed out three of the bars in order. "It's the type of place that you only go if you have no other options. It's also right near the docks, which is where everything illegal flows in."

"Lovely." She shook her head and watched a group of Faunus head into one of the bars. "How do you know all of this? It doesn't exactly seem like the type of place that you'd go to willingly."

Yang sighed and nodded toward and empty alley. When they were sufficiently far from the street she began. "I spent a lot of time away from home this summer. I was looking for someone and had run out of good options for where to find her. So, I started looking in bad ones."

"Uh huh." Blake crossed her arms and gave Yang one of those, you're not telling the whole truth and I know it looks.

"I also might've spent a few days trying to drink myself silly after I realized what I said yes to." Yang looked off to the side and cringed. "It, uhh, didn't really work out like I hoped it would."

"What did you think would happen?"

"That I'd black out, wake up feeling terrible, and it would all wind up being a bad dream." Yang laughed awkwardly. That had probably been the lowest point in her life. She'd failed to notice, or care, about people that she knew were being hurt and had accepted a literal deal with a demon.

"That doesn't seem like the best way to react."

"It probably isn't, but it's sort of a family tradition at this point." Yang sighed. "After mom died, my dad and uncle weren't exactly great role models for a while. Dad got better... eventually. Uncle Qrow, well, I'm pretty sure I've seen him sober at some point.."

It was only a slight exaggeration, but Blake still gave her another look of annoyance.

"What? It was literally the worst point in my life. I screwed up and let a bunch of really bad people go because I was too obsessed with finding my mother."

"Then, I suppose this could be a second chance for you."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that myself." Yang closed her eyes and focused on the area around them. "But I don't think anyone important's here right now."

"How can you tell?"

She could feel a bunch of weak Auras being activated through the walls. They could be bar fights, overly rough dancing, or even Semblances; none were even remotely threatening. "I can feel nearby Auras now."

Blake looked like she wanted to say something, but was holding back.

"Come on, what is it? I can take it."

"That seems very… strange. I've been trying to do that without any luck, but it just comes to you without any effort?"

Yang shrugged. "I don't really spend a lot of time worrying about how these things work."

"Do you think you'll be able to recognize them?" Blake leaned over and watched the road.

"Probably? I mean, I didn't really see them in the first place, but if they put up a good fight, I'm sure I'll be able to figure them out."

"What's the plan then?"

"We go in and I ask myself what seems like the most fun!" Yang pounded her fists together and grinned. When her partner wasn't amused she laughed. "Hey, it was what I did last time and that worked out well."

"Can you avoid getting into a fight this time?"

"Yep, I just need to find something else that's interesting." She stepped in and looped Blake's arm into her own. A quick yank pulled her partner in and with a step forward, Yang leaned into her. "And don't worry, that's not just a euphemism for you."

Blake rolled her eyes, but didn't pull away until they reached the first bar. It was a grungy, hole in the ground filled to the brim with dockworkers and lowlifes. There was only one way to tell most of the two groups apart from each other: Aura. And that was something that most people wouldn't be able to tell at a glance.

Of course, neither of them were most people and everyone inside could tell that at a glance. This wasn't the place for two teenage girls to go without drawing a lot of attention.

 _Yang zeroed in on her target immediately, the table with the only decent Aura. She was a mountain of a woman, probably closer to seven feet tall than six and half as wide at the shoulders. Right in front of her was what Yang needed, what her throat and stomach burned for now that she'd gotten the chance to see it. A bottle of her Uncle Qrow's favorite whiskey._

The woman raised her glass and watched Yang very carefully as she strode up to the table. She continued to drink while Yang waiting, taking her sweet time to finish a single sip. "Yes?"

Yang slammed her hands on the table. "You have an excellent taste in whiskey and I was hoping that you'd share."

"And why would I do something like that?"

"Well, I have a proposal for you." Yang pointed at the bottle. "We have a little drinking contest, whoever wins gives the other one a bottle."

She blinked a couple of times, then looked at her glass. "I must have had more than I thought because that's the dumbest thing I've heard all night and that means either you're an idiot or you think I'm one."

"Come on, you scared of little old me?" Yang smiled 'innocently' and _let her desire flow outward._

The woman stared at her for a moment, before sighing. "It's your funeral, kid. You'd better not get puke on my boots."

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

Ten minutes later, Yang knocked the front door open triumphantly and left with Blake on one arm, her prize in tow. She had the bottle of whiskey as well.

"So, the Ursa's Den, wasn't expecting that. Though, considering he's working with the White Fang, maybe I should've." Yang leaned onto Blake, her entire body feeling slightly warm. "It's only a couple of blocks away, so we can go scope it out next."

"I can't believe that you're still standing."

"Standing? I feel fine." Yang pulled away and leapt forward, spinning in the air. She caught the ground with her heel to keep the spin going and landed without swaying. "See, no problem."

"You drank an entire bottle of liquor by yourself."

"So did she."

"She was twice your size."

"And had barely any Aura… Compared to me that is."

Blake rolled her eyes.

"You really think we'll be able to find him?"

Yang shrugged. "I'm about as sure as I can be and Nila was pretty sure she'd seen Torchwick heading that way. He isn't exactly subtle."

Blake nodded and continued forward. The streets were busy enough that they could slip through crowds without anyone paying too much attention. If Roman was at all smart, he would have someone on lookout.

"What sort of place is this?"

"Faunus bar, known mostly for still being here despite the number of people who've tried to burn it down." Yang suddenly stopped. "Come to think of it… we should probably pick up disguises. I've been around here before and he's definitely seen you."

"I could just sneak in and check."

"And leave me all alone outside while you have all the fun? Nope."

"Fine." Blake pointed down the street at a clothing store. Two jackets and a hat later, they were back on track.

A beefy ram Faunus with horns that curved all the way around his head stood outside of the Ursa, giving the two of them a peculiar look when they walked up.

"Hello!" Yang cheerily waved. He wasn't amused.

"What do you want?"

"My friend and I figured your place would be a great spot for a drink."

He scowled and spit in front of her. "Well, too bad. This isn't the place for you."

Yang smile melted into a glare. His Aura was weak enough she could probably drop him in a hit or two. "What did you say?"

The man stepped forward and met her eyes, looming as much as he could. "I said this isn't the place for your kind, _human_."

"Well tough luck. I think it's exactly the type of place for me." Yang stepped forward, fists clenched.

"Yang!" Blake stepped between the two.

Yang backed away, but kept her eyes on him while he watched Blake.

Blake raised her left hand and held two fingers out. "Bloodless."

The man stepped back and looked from Yang, to Blake, and the to Blake's hat. He grit his teeth so loudly they could hear it, then opened the door. "The balcony's reserved so stay off of it."

Yang made a 'told you so' face at him as they walked in and grabbed Blake as soon as the door closed. "Okay, what was that?"

Blake looked away and mumbled. "It was a White Fang pass phrase. They wouldn't have let us in otherwise."

A couple of things about their last trip to Vale suddenly made a lot more sense. Ruby and Blake happening to run into a White Fang informant had been just a little bit too lucky. If Blake was leading them to him to get the information though...

"Are you still with them?"

"No."

"Does Weiss know?"

"Of course she doesn't!"

"Well…" Yang grinned. "Guess I have one up on her now then."

Blake gaped at her. "You… You don't care?"

"Not really. It's hard to be a Faunus and it sort of fits with the dark and mysterious beauty thing you've got going on." Yang grinned.

Blake smacked her in the forehead.

"Worth it." Yang laughed. "If you're not with them anymore, then it's your past, your business. It doesn't bother me."

"Ruby said practically the same thing."

"Yeah, she's a good kid." Yang sighed wistfully. "The only way she'd be mad is if you actually, I don't know, killed people or seriously destroyed things."

"She wasn't even mad about that."

Yang opened her mouth, then closed it. She was learning all sorts of new things about both her partner and her sister today. Actually, no, the past two weeks.

"Let's get going before someone else comes in." Blake continued up the stairs; Yang followed her.

The floor was a lot nicer than the previous one, a lot more crowded too. Just getting to the bar would take some effort and a lot of shimmying. The stairs up to the balcony would too.

Of course, that was exactly where they needed to go since Roman Torchwick's bright-orange hair was clearly visible at a table up there. He was sitting with a blonde girl with a long furry tail.

"Hey Blake, what sort of Faunus is the girl he's with?"

"Hmm." She watched the girl's tail twitch. "Sugar glider?"

"A what now?"

"It's a small rodent tha-" Blake's face went completely white.

The lights in the room flickered as the redheaded man with horns walked over to Torchwick's table. He was a threat, unlike Torchwick and the girl.

"Yang." Blake slid her weapon free and backed up. "We need to leave now."

"What? Why?" Yang looked back at them and checked all three. "The new guy's the only one vaguely threatening. We can take them."

"We. Need. To. Leave."

"This is our best chance at taking Torchwick out," Yang whispered through her teeth. "If we get a strong White Fang guy too, even better."

"He knows what I am!"

Yang froze and looked back at them. The guy Blake was terrified of had noticed them. He leaned against the railing with a look of murder on his face, his eyes boring into Yang's. She raised a hand and channeled her Aura into her palm, blasting him with a blinding flash of light. The man shouted and covered his eyes as Yang pulled Blake back down the stairs.

It took every ounce of willpower she had to not leap towards the blinded asshole and punch his lights out. He was the only real threat there and Yang was pretty sure she could take him. But, she couldn't just leave Blake standing there like that.

They dashed away, knocking the bouncer on his ass as they fled. Thanks to Blake's speed, they were long gone by the time he stood up. Yang didn't even take the opportunity to make a joke about being carried in Blake's arms.


	39. Chapter 6-5

Ruby scratched her head while she puzzled out her current issue. The second try at Weiss' blessing had gone slightly better. It worked, but they couldn't figure out how to activate it and the pattern itself was so weak Ruby wasn't sure it would actually do anything. She needed a better plan for how to actually build it. So now she had all of her charts out, along with her scroll, and was comparing the movements of the stars today to what they were when Weiss was born.

It would take most of the day to finish, but it would be so worth it if it worked. She'd be able to take a week and give them to her entire team and team JNPR! Well, once she convinced Nora that it was safe anyway.

She sighed and scribbled in the margins of her book. Why couldn't everyone just accept her help without worrying about how she was doing things?

"Hey, Weiss?" she called out to their room.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Do you know what direction the room you were born in was facing?"

"What?"

"North, South, East, or West? Where were the windows?" Ruby tapped the equation with her pencil. "It doesn't need to be exact, but it would let me skip over a step and save probably half an hour."

"Ruby." Weiss popped her head over the side of the bed. "Are you still working on star charts instead of our history of Mantle essay?"

"Yep."

Weiss' brow furrowed and she growled under her breath.

"What? This is more important. If I can figure out how to make these, then everyone will do better in class and in fights." Ruby knew that the only way she could get Weiss to not yell at her was a good justification, thanks to her dreams of how to ease social tension.

"Can you bless them with more self control and foresight?"'

"Uhh, probably not." Ruby considered the associations for the constellations that she knew of. "Though, more combat and professional discipline might be possible if I use the Spear."

Blake lowered her book and asked, "Could you, I don't know, just give us blessings that are a bit more appropriate to who we already are?"

Ruby glanced from Weiss to Blake. "It doesn't really change you. At least, I don't think it does. It should just make things easier when you're acting in theme with the constellation."

"That does change people though," Blake continued. "If you make it easier to behave in a certain way, then someone will be more likely to take those sorts of actions."

"You don't want to be in control of yourself?" Weiss turned around.

"I want to be myself."

Weiss sighed. "You're not the person I'm most worried about."

Almost on cue, Ruby heard heavy footfalls coming from the hallway. All three of them turned to the door right as Yang burst through with a poster for some orchestra in hand. "So, who's up for a trip to Vale to see an awesome show? It's not my usual thing, but I figured, hey why not try something new?"

"Is it going to involve you risking yourself to learn more things that we already know?" Weiss asked venomously. "Who could have guessed that the Faunus psychopath who's most famous for stealing Dust would team up with the human criminal most famous for it? It's not like that wasn't in his records or anything."

"Wait, you've looked into those?" Yang paused. "Did you find anything important?"

"Ruby," Weiss turned to her. "Have you finished fixing Crescent Rose?"

"Umm," Ruby looked away and blushed. She'd been neglecting Crescent Rose in favor of figuring out how to give blessings. "Not quite, I'll be sighting her in tomorrow. Then we'll be good."

"Then I haven't found anything useful yet. Ask again tomorrow."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Yang held the poster out to Weiss. "We could try to get up on stage and risk being mobbed by fans. It'd be way more dangerous than what Blake and I did a few days ago."

"Oh yes, because coming back smelling like a sweaty brewery is the best sign of making good decisions." Weiss stepped forward.

Yang matched her. "Well I-"

"Can both of you please stop fighting about this?" Ruby yelled from her bed. "It's already happened and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I'll stop when both of you start taking your responsibilities seriously." Weiss spun around, redirecting her anger toward Ruby.

"Come on, Weiss. Don't you want to take a day off and have some fun?" Yang walked up behind Weiss and laid a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.

"Sure, we can have fun, in the library."

"That's the opposite of fun."

Ruby could practically feel the temperature in the room rising as they got louder. She spared a glance toward Blake, who had retreated to her book.

"Come with me and actually do your work." Weiss threw Yang off of her.

"No." Yang crossed her arms. "You come with me to Vale. Seriously, you're way too high strung right now and a good concert does wonders for that."

"Seeing a show in Vale is not important right now and there are a number of reasons why I'm annoyed." Weiss held a hand up and started counting. "First off, multiple people, including our professors, have been asking questions about where you've been. Secondly-"

"So what?"

"SO WHAT?" Weiss shrieked at such a high pitch Ruby and Blake both flinched.

"Yeah, I don't need to care about that right now. They've either noticed or they haven't. It'll come out during the-"

"Yang!" Blake interrupted, looking at Ruby from over top of her book.

"Well it either will or it won't. How else am I supposed to explain myself?"

Ruby had thought that she knew what they were talking about, but now she wasn't so sure. Yang didn't have the forgetfulness thing so everyone definitely would've noticed her skipping class. Blake's bow suddenly twitching also made it even more suspicious. She could also feel a lot of pressure coming from all of them.

She could try to force something to make everyone calm down, but the best person to do that to was already so stressed out that she was causing most of the problems. Yang was mostly alright, at least she seemed to be, so that was a risk that Ruby could take. But, she'd likely run into a wall because of how much Yang didn't like doing any of the things Weiss wanted to.

 _Ruby looked at the ways that this could go and found the best solution immediately._ The question was: how could she convince them to do both?

"Join me in studying." Weiss said through her teeth.

"Make me."

"You know what, fine."

It was worth the risk. Ruby needed to stop this before it any worse, but before she could do anything, Weiss turned around and look her right in the eyes. _Ruby's breath caught in her throat as she saw the depths of the ice cold rage surging within her partner. It was a burning passion that threatened to overflow onto any who disagreed with her and consume them._

Ruby opened her mouth, trying to respond, but she couldn't get any words out. When she thought of trying to force Weiss to calm down, the actions she needed to take wouldn't come to mind. Blake and Yang were stupefied as well.

Weiss's body language shifted away from the cold and domineering threat to something else, something that Ruby couldn't take her eyes off of that also made the room feel ten degrees hotter. She pranced up to Yang, hands held behind her back, with far less controlled motions than Ruby'd ever seen on her before.

"Yang," Weiss spoke sweetly, drawing out each word. "You're going to come study with me, right?"

Yang held her lips tightly closed, muttering through them, "N-no."

"But I was really hoping we could walk there together and… talk… about things." Weiss ran the back of her nail along Yang's neck from chin to collarbone.

Yang shivered and shook her head. "I'm going-"

Weiss grabbed hold of Yang's scarf and pulled her into a kiss.

Ruby could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her cheeks grew red hot. Ever fiber of her being wanted to look away, but something kept drawing her eyes back to Weiss holding Yang in place for a long time, a very long time. Ruby glanced at Blake, trying to figure out how to respond. Blake was as red as Ruby felt, but also couldn't keep her eyes away.

As Weiss pulled away, she smiled and asked, "So, where were you going?"

Yang laughed awkwardly, "T-to the library?"

Weiss smiled and walked out of the room, to a red faced team JNPR in the hallway. Each of them was staring at her, and Yang who was following behind, with wide eyes.

As soon as they left, Blake turned back to Ruby. "What just happened?"

"'Yang just got Yang'd." Ruby said, breathless.

"Ruby, Blake," Weiss yelled, her voice still sweet. "I expect you two to be there in five minutes as well."

Ruby looked at team JNPR, who were staring down the hallway, and slipped out of her bed. She unbuttoned the top button of her uniform shirt and fanned herself with the collar. "So, uhh-"

"And bring Jaune and Nora with you," Weiss yelled again. "They need to do better as well."

Ruby grinned at them and laughed through her teeth. "You two are coming right?"

* * *

Coco Adel had come to the library with a single goal in mind, figure out where Fox was hiding this time. Despite being blind, her partner was surprisingly good at finding places where she couldn't spot him. But, she found something much more interesting, and honestly bizarre, to watch instead.

Weiss Schnee was lecturing a group of freshmen, two of whom were her teammates, about a large number of different topics. Each of them had a different assignment, or assignments in the case of the poor blondes, and she made rounds to each of them in turn.

First up was the unfamiliar girl in the red cloak.

Weiss leaned over her shoulder while she wrote an essay. "One and a half pages so far? I know you can work faster than that, Ruby."

Ruby looked away and stopped writing. "But this is so boring. I'm never going to need to know about early Mantle Dust mining and how that caused the kingdom to shift to Atlas."

"If you ever travel to the city of Mantle, it could be very important. Some people are still very bitter about the capital changing locations." Weiss pulled another book over. "Also, if you want to make changes to something, you should know why certain policies were implemented in the first place."

Ruby groaned at her book, but got back to work.

Weiss leaned in and said just loud enough for Coco to hear, "How about this? I'll get you a kilogram of whatever material you want for each quality page you finish this hour."

"Really?" The girl perked up. Once Weiss nodded, she started writing much faster than before.

"So, what am I gonna get?" The blonde girl, Yang if Coco remembered the teams right, was smiling like a cat that got the canary.

Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked up to Yang, with much more bounce in her step than Coco would've expected. "You've already gotten your reward. Three times at that."

"That was for coming here, not writing an awesome paper." Yang fanned out a small stack of pages. "What does six pages get me?"

"Hmm…" Weiss looked them over, frowning after a moment. "You skipped over every other line."

"Space for edits."

"That makes it three pages."

"Eh, semantics."

Weiss considered the pages for a moment. "This does deserve something."

Coco's eyebrows rose when the girl leaned in for a kiss. She hadn't known about that, but she also couldn't fault Weiss' taste in women. They would be a good pair in a large number of ways. Someone needed to bring some cheer and joy to the Schnee family. It said something when someone like Weiss was the warmest member.

Though, then she sauntered up to her next teammate and leaned over with even more suggestive body language. She didn't actually kiss Blake, but came very close, actively giving Yang eyes as she moved. It had suddenly turned moderately scandalous. Or it would have if Weiss was still in Atlas and representing her family, but this was Beacon and Coco doubted that anyone would really care. Well, anyone besides the international celebrity who was also spying on them.

Coco crept up to Pyrrha Nikos and a boy who were carefully listening in as well. When she was right behind them she whispered, "I take it two of them are your teammates."

To their credit, neither jumped or flinched.

Pyrrha replied first, "Yes, the boy is our team leader and the girl with the book on her head is our other teammate."

"Hmm." Coco watched the tiny, orange-haired girl placing a thick book back on top of her head. She seemed to be the opposite of calm from how much she swayed back and forth to keep it in place.

"Nora was never very good at holding still." The boy near her offered his hand. "I'm Ren."

"Coco." She took it and shook once.

"You look very familiar." Pyrrha squinted as her eyes searched Coco's face. "Have we met before?"

"I was at the celebration party for your second championship." Coco shrugged. "Though, I'm not surprised you don't remember me considering how many people sought you out that night."

"Oh, yes." Pyrrha's looked down and blushed. "I'm sorry, but I must have spoken to well over thirty people that evening."

"Don't worry about it." Coco waved to the side. "There is something that I wanted to talk to you about though."

"Oh?"

"You're not going to repeat anything that Weiss is doing right now to anyone-" Coco leaned forward so her sunglasses fell down and she could look right into Pyrrha's eyes. "-right?"

"Why would I-" Pyrrha cut herself off, eyes going wide. "I would never!"

Coco waved her hand. "I didn't think you would, considering your reputation, but needed to be sure."

She leaned over to watch Weiss quiz Blake on the different aspects of ambient energy.

"Why would what she's doing be a problem?" Ren asked.

"It shouldn't be and isn't for anyone not in specific circles." Coco pulled out her scroll and opened a gossip magazine's page. She held it up, showing him the current rumors surrounding her cousin Rocky and his best friend, Miss Lilac Raze. Shortly after breaking up with his latest girlfriend, he flew Lilac to one of his family's beach houses, where they spent an evening by themselves. "I know for a fact that neither of them is interested in the other that way, but if an article can be written from so little, a single picture of Weiss acting like this would hit the front page within the hour."

Pyrrha nodded when he looked at her to confirm. "It's a deplorable practice, but also a very common one. Not having to worry about such things is one of the reasons why I chose to attend Beacon over Haven. It's sufficiently far removed from the city that visitors can easily be vetted and Professor Ozpin doesn't tolerate paparazzi on campus."

Ren nodded and all three of them turned back to the scene unfolding in front of them.

"I still don't get why I need to do this." Nora grumbled with her eyes closed. "How does meditation help with anything? It's Ren's thing, not mine."

"If you can quiet your mind, you can focus your body more." Weiss tapped the book, then Nora's shoulder. "If you're in complete control of your body's actions, both voluntary and involuntary, you will be able to tell when something external, such as Sorcery or the Anathema, is influencing you and ward it off."

"Uhhh…"

"It's a simple matter of willpower. Something that I'm sure you have plenty of." Weiss pulled a can of iced coffee from her bag and placed it on top of the book. "The only question is: how much do you want it? If you can hold your position for fifteen minutes without either falling, then the can's yours."

Ren groaned. "She'll do it now. And she's going to be bouncing off of the walls all night."

Coco raised an eyebrow at Pyrrha's worried expression. "Really?"

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded and grimaced. "The last time Nora had coffee, we needed to get two of our bed frames replaced."

"And you're not stopping this because?"

"It doesn't feel right."

Coco thought about stepping in, _but immediately reconsidered. Weiss wouldn't be happy with her plans being interfered with, even if they might result in other problems._ "Yeah, I see what you mean. Though… What started this?"

"She hasn't been happy with her team's…" Pyrrha paused for a moment. "Lack of academic discipline recently, along with their general recklessness."

"It started last weekend, when our teams were pulled into a very dangerous fight that we were not prepared for." Ren pointed at Ruby. "Ruby was missing her weapon and Weiss hadn't recovered when we fought what we believe to be an Anathema."

Coco whistled softly. "And you're all here instead of the hospital? Impressive."

"We were forced to retreat, but no one was seriously injured. Most of us had not broken our Auras while our foe had been partially disabled." Pyrrha clenched a fist and looked down. "I believe that we would have been victorious if Weiss, Blake, Ruby, and I had stayed to fight. However, that would've left the others in grave danger."

"Just you four? We've been going over anti-Anathema combat tactics with Professor Port and one with its Aura unlocked calls for at least five fully trained Hunters, preferably ten. Even with that many, we'd expect to lose people against two of the sub categories."

Pyrrha nodded. "She was likely not among the more dangerous ones. Ren and Blake had been able to keep her at bay for quite some time while the rest of us dealt with her allies. If Ruby had her weapon, if Weiss had fully recovered, or if Yang hadn't been removed from the fight by one of the Anathema's spells, we would have surely won."

"I've faced Anathema before and," Ren cut in. "I'm less optimistic, but agree. This one's combat skills were not above what a very skilled Huntress could do. Her Sorcery though…" He ended with a shudder. "If she had opened with her two final spells, we wouldn't be here right now."

Coco fought back a grimace. Skilled Dust Sorcerers were a marvel to behold. They could sway the tide against an incredible number of enemies, provided they had the time and materials to cast. Her minigun could rival them in mass destruction, but she could only pull that off thanks to her Semblance. They only needed a few vials of high quality Dust to achieve the same result. Though, those were arguably more expensive.

But still, two freshmen teams fighting against one of those monsters and coming out unscathed was unprecedented. She could believe that Pyrrha and Weiss had the skill needed. The rest of them were up in the air.

"If your teams are that good, we should spar sometime." Coco stepped back and glanced at Weiss one more time. She was lecturing the boy while he cradled his shield. "I'm sure I can convince Professor Goodwitch to let us borrow the training room."

"That would be marvelous." Pyrrha smiled. "I'll speak to Jaune about it-" she stepped toward the lecture, then turned back "-as soon as Weiss has finished with him."

"I'll set it up." Coco turned away with a wave. "Ciao."

As she walked away, she pulled her scroll out and started searching for the names of each member of teams RWBY and JNPR. There had to be something on them if they were really as good as Pyrrha thought. Skill like that didn't appear out of thin air.

"Hmm…" Her very first search had a result. "Taiyang Xiao-Long…"

* * *

"All right." Jaune fell onto his mattress face first, savoring the feeling before it inevitably got destroyed again. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pooped."

"Did you figure anything out?" Nora rolled the can of coffee in her hands, already bouncing on her bed.

"It feels, a bit better, I guess?" He turned his head to the side and looked at his shield. "And I get why she wanted me to work on that. If I can protect myself more, then I'll… Oh how did she say it? Be less of a liability in a fight?"

"Being able to protect yourself does come before offense in most schools." Ren muttered from his glassware box, which was quickly being filled. He got Nora to promise to wait for him to remove everything fragile from the room before she drank her reward.

"But, it feels so much less heroic hiding behind my shield like that," Jaune continued with a groan at the end.

"There's nothing cowardly about protecting yourself, Jaune." Pyrrha said from the doorway. "A shield can also be a potent weapon in its own right, allowing you to charge into a battle by using its face to bowl your enemies over or its edge to beat their weapons away from them. You just need to spend some more time practicing your footwork."

Jaune blew air through his lips and pushed himself up. "More practice. What's the-"

 _He cut himself off when a flash of inspiration hit him._ There was more to his shield than just being a wall, it was also his sheath.

Jaune leapt from his bed and pulled it out. He expanded his shield and left his sword on the ground. "Pyrrha, can you hit me, like right now?"

"Umm…" She pulled her sword from under her bed. "Sure."

Pyrrha stepped forward, swinging her sword in a slow arc. Jaune stepped in, slamming the top into the blade right above her hand. She smiled and stepped forward, rotating into a thrust that came overtop of his shield. Again, she moved much more slowly than in a real fight.

Jaune could feel all of the mechanisms through his Aura and held the grip hard. As Pyrrha came in, it rotated so that his elbow was near the point at the bottom. The shield called out to him, his muscles aching for the right movement as the attack closed in.

He snapped a punch at Pyrrha's blade, shield rotating with his arm and aligning its opening with the blade. It fell into the sheath and with a heavy wrench of his arm, he pulled it from her hand.

After a moment, Pyrrha applauded. "Oh, Jaune, that was wonderful!"

"Yeah." Nora nodded. "Good stuff."

Ren nodded and softly clapped.

"How did you figure it out?" Pyrrha reached to him and retrieved her sword.

"It just sort of came to me." Jaune chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Sort of like an arrow hitting the back of my head with an idea… Actually."

He thought back to the last time he asked Weiss out. That was something he'd never do again, between what she said then and today that was perfectly clear. "Nora, when we were talking to Weiss in the kitchen. Someone did something to me that was supposed to make me smarter. I think that was it."

Nora dropped the can onto the bed. "What?"

"Do you mean the blessing?" Pyrrha quirked her head to the side and pursed her lips.

"Well, I mean, isn't Mars supposed to be a goddess of all sorts of fighting? Being blessed to be smarter by her would make learning shield things easier, wouldn't it?" Jaune continued.

"That would make sense." Pyrrha nodded along.

"She wanted to make them for everyone else too so-"

"No! That's not! You can't!" Nora frantically swiped on her scroll.

"Nora? Are you okay?" Jaune said as he stepped closer, but Ren was faster. He swiped her scroll from her and frowned. As he scrolled, the frown deepened and Nora started fidgeting.

"How long have you been worrying about this?" Ren asked, tone completely flat.

"Uhhh, ever since the Anathema fight? I don't really know." Nora giggled nervously.

Ren sighed and sat down next to her. He wrapped Nora up in a tight hug, that she returned after a moment.

"Nora, do you remember when we spoke about the Anathema with Ruby?" Ren asked without letting go.

"We did that?"

Jaune almost bit his tongue to avoid asking who they were talking about.

"I just remembered the conversation," Ren said softly and slowly rubbed her back. "I'm not as worried about her now because she's as serious about fighting them as you are."

"How do you know that's a real memory?" Nora's voice went incredibly high. "If she can mess with Jaune's brain like that. How can we know that any of what we remember is real?"

"I-" Pyrrha stepped forward, then cut herself off. After a moment, she continued. "I don't think that she would do something like that. She's been bringing us into everything, including secrets that could have been very dangerous."

Ren turned to her, watching very carefully.

Pyrrha looked down and folded her hands behind her back. "I know that none of you share my faith, but I cannot believe that such an obvious blessing would be given to someone who would use it to destroy the memories of others and enable such deceit. Why would the sign of Mars appear if she didn't have a divine connection? If the Anathema have indeed stolen the might of the gods, why would she display it so freely?"

"I don't really know who you're talking about." Jaune kept his eyes on Ren and Nora. "But, I think Pyrrha's right. My dad always kept his faith, no matter how bad things got. And even though I don't know anything about any of the Maidens, our church was to Sol, I think that we need to believe in something. If this Ruby person was really dangerous, I'm sure someone else would've noticed as well."

Nora sniffled and took a deep breath. "Ren, Pyrrha… I think Weiss was right. Could… Could the two of you help me with figuring out how to meditate and stuff like that?"

"Always." Ren responded immediately. "Though, we haven't had any luck in the past."

"I never really had a reason to really try before, but…" Nora gulped. "The two of you can remember more than I can and if this can help with that, then maybe it'll help with other things too."

Jaune stood up and held a hand out to her. "I'll join too. We can do it as a team."

Nora stared at it, then grabbed hold. "Yeah."


	40. Chapter 6-6

Ruby carefully walked back to her bedroom, a fully fixed Crescent Rose on her back. Considering everything that had happened yesterday, she really, really didn't want to walk in on anyone doing anything… Especially if Yang was involved.

She had a big problem though, they never talked about what signs to leave if someone was busy. According to TV and certain books, a tie or a sock on the doorknob was traditional, but neither was there. Even so, she crept up to it carefully and listened for any noises, just to be safe.

Someone was in there and she was… crying? She sobbed softly into something, the sound of cloth muffling the noise to the point where it was hard for Ruby to hear.

"Stupid, so stupid," Weiss shouted into something. "I almost ruined everything."

Ruby hesitated in front of the door. She still had her sense of social situations and suddenly barging in in would be the worst thing to do. _A quick consideration of the potential futures confirmed this._ So, she crept back to the end of the hallway and skipped back to her room, making sure that her footsteps were very loud. She also took a bit too long to fiddle with her keys.

"Guess what I finished?" she burst into the room with a cheer, holding Crescent Rose above her head. The door slowly closed behind her.

"Glad to hear it," Weiss said plainly, without any of the raspiness that Ruby heard seconds ago. She also looked closer someone who'd just gotten out of a makeup commercial than someone who'd been crying. The only signs were the salty smell in the air and how her pillow was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah." Ruby smiled while rocking back and forth on her heels. When the silence became too much, she licked her lips and continued, "So, is everything going okay?"

"Yes." Weiss answered immediately.

"Umm," Ruby locked the door and said very quietly, "Are you sure? I mean, I'm here if there's anything you want to talk about."

Weiss squinted at her, "You heard that, didn't you?"

"Little bit."

"And you're not just going to pretend it didn't happen."

"Nope." Ruby shook her head at Weiss' not-a-question. If it had just been her overhearing something, then she might've. But Weiss had been crying and she didn't cry. Even when she was dying, Ruby had shed more tears than Weiss did.

Weiss sighed and jumped down from her bed. She looked around the room as her Aura started singing. Ruby hadn't been listening to it until just then, but knowing what was happening could help her. The assignment that Weiss gave Blake had made her think about how everything that her teammates did sounded unique and somewhat understandable. Though, the first song was over too quickly for her to really notice.

While Ruby tried to figure out all of the songs rotating around Weiss, her partner put actual music on. It was a simple classical piece that did not work with the song of Weiss' Aura in the slightest, sort of like nails running down a chalkboard randomly mixed into what was otherwise a beautiful song. All of that on top of the white noise that surrounded Weiss' Aura at all times made Ruby's temples pound just trying to focus.

"Why are you making that face?" Weiss looked almost offended.

"Uhh." Ruby realized she was wincing from how discordant the combined music was. She shut down the ability and just listened to the normal music because she couldn't ignore it like the other aura music.

"This is a good song. It's soft and flows well, not something that should cause a reaction like that."

"Well…" Ruby looked away from Weiss. "I was sort of trying to figure out what you're doing with your Aura and trying to listen to both of them at the same time was really distracting."

"I see." Weiss made no move to turn it off.

"Why are you leaving it on then?"

"Because this will keep more people from overhearing us."

Ruby opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. After a couple of second of thought, she looked at the door and responded. "What're you so worried about?"

"This is a sensitive topic." Weiss said so softly that it was a little hard to hear her over the music. "And it is _not_ something that I ever want repeated."

"Okay." Ruby nodded. "So, umm, what's wrong?"

Weiss took a deep breath and paced over to the window. She crossed her arms and held very still when she spoke. "I lost control of myself and listened to all of my worst ideas or instincts without thought and planning… All without caring about what could happen the next day, let alone the next month."

"What?" Ruby gasped. "Why is that a problem? You looked so much more normal and happier. Wasn't that what you wanted to do?"

"Exactly, I was simply doing what came to mind instead of thinking about the ramifications of my actions."

"And why is that bad?" Ruby stepped up next to her and turned Weiss so that they were facing each other. "I mean, if there was something going on between you and Yang... and Blake… I'm sort of annoyed that you all kept me in the dark for so long, but I don't have any problem with it. Just, please warn me before something else happens so I can avoid walking in on it."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "What do you think we'd be doing?"

"I- Umm…" Ruby turned away and blushed as passages from the last romance novel she'd borrowed from Blake were suddenly very relevant. "Well, you know… If you're interested in someone, then there's stuff that you want to do and-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Weiss snapped. "That is not going to happen any time soon."

"What? Don't you like them?"

"Of course I do, but we haven't even been on a single date yet."

"That doesn't matter."

Weiss gave her a look that screamed 'what are you stupid?'.

"What?"

"Where are you getting these ideas from?" She pulled out her scroll and rapidly tapped on it. "There's no way that Vale's that's… Ha, I knew it."

Weiss turned the page titles 'Vale Relationship Survey' to her. Even though there was nothing bad on the page, it looked like a dull research paper, Ruby still looked away.

"There was no way that Vale was that promiscuous. The average number of dates before going any further is two point seven." Weiss leaned in very close, grinning devilishly. The heat grew in Ruby's cheeks while Weiss closed. "Where would you possibly have gotten an idea like that in your head?"

"I-" Ruby stammered, backing away at the same pace that Weiss advanced. "It was Yang, and my Uncle, and Blake's books!" Ruby giggled slightly before finishing. "Mostly the books."

"Oh really?" Weiss pushed her back even further.

"Yes and… and…" Ruby trembled as she hit one of the beds. She started falling back, knees going out thanks to where it was, then pulsed her Aura to pushed herself forward. She smashed her forehead into Weiss', driving the other girl back. "And stop being distracting! That's not what we were talking about!"

Weiss rubbed the spot where they connected and turned away again.

"If you like them so much, then why was this a problem?" Ruby stepped forward, but kept Weiss at arm's length.

"The problem is what I did."

"I really don't see any difference between what happened yesterday and right now."

"The door's closed."

Ruby glanced to the side. The door was indeed closed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that we're in a private location, where other people can neither look at nor listen to us." Weiss crossed her arms and started pacing.

"Okay, you didn't seem to have that much of a problem in the library."

"I still wasn't thinking at that time."

"Well what were you thinking about?"

Weiss turned to her and the pressure rose up around her.

Ruby slammed into it. _You can trust me._

"You have to promise to not interrupt me."

"Why?"

"Because explaining what I was doing is going to sound bad at certain points and if you interrupt you won't hear everything else." Weiss looked her in the eyes, her own slightly shimmering. "Do I have your word that you won't?"

"Yes."

"When we were in the library, the main thought that I had was-" Weiss closed her eyes. "-how can I make them take this seriously?"

Ruby opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"I thought about this for every one of you, figuring out exactly what it was that you wanted right then and using it to tempt you into compliance."

Ruby clenched her teeth to keep herself from yelling at Weiss. After a moment of silence, Weiss opened her eyes and nodded. Immediately afterward, Ruby took a breath and said, "That does sound really bad. Like, did you actually want to kiss Yang or tease Blake? Or was it just to manipulate them?"

"No, I did and at that time it was the most effective action I could take, so I took it and enjoyed it. Had there been a better option, I would have done that instead." Weiss squeezed her eyes shut and furrowed her brow. "I acted rashly and shamelessly because that was what would make all of you listen. For Yang, it was very simple. All I had to do was feed her desires. Blake was trickier because she both wanted to do something and also was frightened of it."

"Is that how you think about us all of the time?"

"In part, yes." Weiss held her hand up to stop Ruby's shout. "I have to think about what I'm doing and how it will affect not only all of you, but everyone else as well."

"Why?" Ruby shook her head in disbelief. "You don't need to care about that so much. We're friends, you can just… have fun and be yourself."

"No, I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"NO. I. CAN'T."

"Well why not?"

The pressure built again and Ruby slammed into it. It might be bad for Weiss' stress levels, but keeping all of this bottled up was almost, definitely worse.

Weiss grit her teeth and pulled up another file on her scroll. She turned a spreadsheet to Ruby. "Do you know what this is?"

"Employee ID, First Name, Last Name…" Ruby read off the titles. "Some sort of employee record list for something?"

"These are all of the SDC employees who were murdered by the White Fang during their attack." Weiss snapped with a rage that Ruby'd only heard in her bad debates with Blake. "The company and every person working for it is going to be my responsibility soon enough. All of these lives and countless others will rely on my abilities and reputation to stay safe and employed."

Ruby raised a finger to respond, but Weiss continued ranting.

"Every action I take will be scrutinized. Every friend or associate of mine will be looked into. When I begin any sort of long term relationship, the life of my partner will fundamentally change. A target will be painted on their back, just like the one on mine." Weiss stomped back to her bed. "And the White Fang won't be the only ones taking shots. Other businesses will try to steal SDC secrets through them. The board will want to make sure that neither of us act in a manner which could potentially upset investors. And whether they like it or not, they will be torn to pieces by the gossip rags."

Ruby gulped. That was an incredible amount of pressure to put on someone.

"Their life and appearance will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb and every single flaw that can be found will be displayed for all to see." Weiss put on a fake, obnoxious voice and said, "Did you hear about the girl with Miss Schnee? They say that she drank an entire bottle of whiskey at the last corporate party and dragged the president onto the dance floor?" she shifted to a different, but equally irritating voice. "A Schnee and a Faunus? Is their mongrel going to bring the company to ruin when they inherit?"

"Wait, who do you-"

"Blake," she said without any hesitation. "It's been blatantly obvious since our third week, but she still hasn't told me directly. I've run the numbers on what would happen if I revealed that in the current climate and it isn't pretty."

Ruby gaped at her.

"There are a lot of very powerful people who think that the Faunus are inherently inferior, both in virtue and intellect. They hide this in public, but as soon as they think that no one who cares can hear them, all of the vile hatred spews out of their mouths." Weiss flicked her hair over her shoulder and glared out the window.

"I-I don't even…" Ruby stammered." Why would you ever want to be a part of it? How can anyone?"

"Because it's not normally that bad and will remain tolerable until they realize what I intend to do. If you either agree with them or shut up and let them act however they want, they won't cause _you_ any problems. But, I want to change this. I want to make it better and these people will fight me with every bit of power they have." She clenched her fist. "I can find reasons to fire everyone who treats the Faunus badly and eventually replace the board with a more tolerant one. But until then, I need to make sure that the power needed to enact these changes is maintained. Even if it means putting up with their filth in the meantime."

"Weiss… do you want a hug?" Ruby asked very quietly.

Weiss looked at her for a moment, the intensity in her eyes slowly drawing down.

"I'm probably the safest bet." Ruby laughed, her throat tight. "I mean, they'll just forget about me so I can always be around without you having to worry."

"Yes they would." She closed her eyes. "A hug would be nice."

Ruby stepped forward and held her partner tightly. Unlike all of the previous times she did this, Weiss leaned in as well and dropped her head onto Ruby's shoulder. Ruby stayed quiet, holding on and matching Weiss' breathing. All the while, she tried to ignore the slowly growing damp spot on her shoulder.

Also, all of the other questions gnawing at her mind. Like, why did Weiss have a list like that? There'd be a time to ask them, but that time wasn't now.

* * *

"Why'd I agree to this?" Blake groaned while she walked down the streets of downtown Vale with Yang right next to her.

"Well, after what Weiss did-" Yang stepped in closer and looped their arms together. "-I needed to step up my game."

Blake rolled her eyes and tried to ignore just how much heat Yang was giving off.

"Besides, I already bought the tickets, so it'd be a little silly to not use them."

"And did that really require us to be..." Blake waved a hand at their outfits. She had a button up shirt and slacks on, while Yang was in a white dress. Seeing her like that was very different.

"It's a classical music concert." Yang shrugged. "You're supposed to be fancy for those. Also, you look great!"

Blake blushed and turned away from the bright smile. Both of them were going to be so much worse now. Weiss hadn't quite done anything, but she'd been so close that Blake had been able to feel the other girl's breath on her lips. And now she couldn't get the thought out of her head, or keep herself from watching Yang for the moment her partner decided to try sneaking one.

Though that thought did bring something else up.

"Umm, Yang…" Blake licked her lips, trying to figure out how to describe what she was thinking of. "When Weiss kissed you, did you feel anything weird?"

"Weird?"

"With the kiss."

"Well, I certainly didn't expect someone like her to be that good at it." Yang chuckled. "Why, do you want to try it?"

Blake shook her head very quickly, her face surely as red as Yang's eyes when she was angry. The last person to kiss her had been Adam and that was so long ago. Just seeing him again had lit a fire in her heart that threatened to consume everything. A blazing inferno that-

She stopped as she caught sight of someone in the alley next to them. It took her a moment to recognize him because there were plenty of people in dress clothes walking around. But the bowler hat and bright orange hair were unmistakable. Roman Torchwick looked her in the eyes, casually smoking a cigar.

"Yang." Blake nodded towards him.

"Yeah, what-" Yang cut herself off when she caught sight of him.

"Such a lovely night to be out for a stroll." He rolled the cigar in his fingers and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. "Don't you think?"

Blake held her blade's grip while Yang deployed very gauntlets.

"Woah, woah." Torchwick raised his hands, cane pointed away from them. "Easy there, sweet cheeks. There's no need for those. I just want to talk."

"You're a murderous racist. Why would we ever want to talk to you?" Blake glared at him and drew an inch of steel.

"Guilty as charged." Roman took a step out of the shadows. "But at least I'm honest about who I am. And there is definitely more to you two than the obvious."

Both of them took a step forward, moving into fighting stances.

"No, no, no." He shook his head. "You touch one hair on my head and something terrible happens."

Blake held a hand out to stop Yang from pressing forward. "He's not lying."

Roman crackled and puffed his cigar again. "You see, our furry friends have a little operation planned if I don't send them a rather specific message within the next… let's just say period of time and leave it ambiguous."

"What sort of operation?" Yang asked, hey muscles so tight that Blake could make out her veins.

"Well, there's a big premier tonight, something about a band of heroes holding the line against wave after wave of humanoid Grimm."

"Siege of Mistral Two." Blake practically spat the title. The Faunus Actors Association of Mistral had been protesting the movie ever since the director used the Battle of the Emerald Channel as inspiration and he had the Grimm beaten use the same tactics that the Faunus had been. Sure, he claimed that it wasn't about race, but anyone with half a brain could see through that.

"Right, that's the one." Torchwick grinned. "They were pretty pissed about it and who better to lead the attack against the premier than a feisty, black haired cat Faunus who's very similar to the main villain." He laughed while Blake's eyes went wide. "Our kitty has the wrong eye color, but you can't tell that through the mask."

"You bastard." Yang stomped, cracking the pavement; Meanwhile, Blake's blood ran cold and her objection was caught in her throat.

"Ah, ah, ah." Torchwick wagged a finger at them. "Do you really care about your girlfriend's reputation that little?"

"We're-" Blake started complaining, but stopped because that wasn't a wrong assumption to make. She, Weiss, and Yang were... something and Blake knew they both wanted it to be more. She wasn't sure that she was ready for that now that it had gotten more intense, but she also didn't not want it. "We're not going to fight you."

Yang grit her teeth hard enough that Blake could hear it. When she spoke, every words was terse and barely restrained. "What do you want?"

"For the two of you to follow me." He turned around and started walking. When they didn't follow, he glanced back. "Time's a wasting. You would wanted those poor moviegoers to be splattered across the theater. would you?"

"This has to be a trap." Yang whispered.

"What other choice do we have?" Blake stepped close and grabbed Yang's hand. She leaned in to whisper right in Yang's ear. "If he lies, I'll do this."

She tapped Yang's palm with her fingernails, then they walked. Again, Blake came back to the idea of communicating without talking. It was second to figuring out how to see Aura, but some technique to achieve that would be incredibly useful.

They followed Torchwick to a door around the corner. He held it open for them with a mock bow. "Ladies first."

"I'm not turning my back on your for a second." Yang said as they stopped.

"I am nothing, but a gentleman." Torchwick said truthfully.

After a moment, Blake pulled her forward. "Let's just get this over with."

The door opened into a plain white hallway with the sound of footsteps echoing along it. Two White Fang members stopped when they caught sight of them and turned to the nearest room.

"This way." Torchwick slid past Blake and pressed forward to an unremarkable door. Once more, he opened it for them and stood outside. The room looked like an old police interrogation cell, complete with one-way mirror.

Inside was the Anathema woman, sitting behind a table and wearing what could only be described as a combat bodysuit. She moved the arm Blake had injured up and obviously flexed her fingers.

"You came." She smirked and leaned back.

"You didn't give us much of a choice," Yang snapped, squeezing Blake's hand.

"Of course not, would you be here otherwise?"

"Not like this."

"There's no reason for the bad attitude. You're among friends." She waved to the chair surrounding the table. "Please, have a seat."

"We'll stand," Blake said, keeping an eye on the other doors.

The woman's brow furrowed briefly, then she was back to a smiling face. "Very well. I'm sure that both of you want to know why you're here."

Neither of them responded. The woman continued staring at them, her irises slightly smoldering as they continued waiting.

After nearly a minute, Yang turned to Torchwick. "Don't you have an attack to call off?"

He shrugged. "We still have time."

"What do you want from us?" Blake caught the woman's eyes and glared at her.

"I want both of you," she responded immediately. _Blake hear her real meaning as well. "I want you to work for me."_

"No."

"Do you truly believe that you'll be able to hide forever? That your fellow Hunters will permit you to live once they find out what you really are?"

"And what are we then?" Yang snapped.

"Anathema," she said with a disturbing reverence. The woman's smile crept further up her face. "The greatest enemies of humanity. Those who stole the power of a god for themselves. Or did you?"

 _Her true meaning filtered through the words to Blake's ears. "I know that you, meaning Blake, are, but am not sure about the second."_

Again, neither responded. Yang squeezed Blake's hand hard enough that she'd normally wince, while Blake wracked her mind for some way of warning Yang without revealing too much.

"You will make a mistake at some point and you will be hunted down. It may not even be something you did, but instead someone you chose to trust," she continued, voice echoing around the room in a manner that made it hard to just shut out. "But, there are other beings in this world that can provide protection and shelter.

"Beings that only ask for you to fight back against those who would see you dead."

Blake tapped Yang's hand, the final statement was a blatant lie.

"No thanks." Yang shook her head. "We can handle that ourselves."

"It isn't hard to hide a single person." Blake followed her, hoping that Yang would understand her meaning.

A dark blade slid through the tip of the woman's gloves. "Information like that doesn't have to come from your allies."

"Is that a threat?" Yang stepped forward.

"Consider it…" The woman mused. "A premonition. Some says that the fortunes of all men are told in the stars. But I don't need to read them to know where your own are headed."

Blake's breath caught in her throat. Was this woman the same as Ruby? The stars meant nothing to Blake, Weiss, or Yang, but Ruby listened to them all of the time. Though, if she was the same, then how could they remember her?

"No one can see the future." Blake held her face very still. She wasn't the best at lying, but she'd had a lot of practice.

The woman's mask held firm, but several more threads tore on her glove. Flames danced within her eyes, but besides that she remained composed. "There are a great, many things that mankind has forgotten-"

Blake pushed her words away and closed her eyes. This woman wasn't normal. She was too strong to be a Huntress and seemed to know secrets that no one else had any information about. There had to be something that could be done to figure her out. Something that didn't involve beating the information from her.

She dug deep into her own Aura and how she'd been trying to see beyond normal sight, to perceive that which wasn't there. Everyone had a soul within them and for some, it was much stronger than others. If Ruby could hear the music of the stars and Yang feel people's strength, then why couldn't Blake see their souls? She already knew how to hear their true intentions.

 _Blake opened her eyes again. Some said that they were the window into the soul, and in this case, those people were right. Layer after layer was stripped away until Blake could see the fiery, raging core within her. It was an all consuming passion that drove the entirety of her being: stealing the power of the Fall Maiden._

Blake gasped. This woman was that powerful without actually being Anathema?!

"What did you-" She stood up suddenly, knocking her chair away with the movement.

The images faded as quickly as they appeared, but the memory of what she wanted remained. Blake glowered, stepping forward. She needed to do something. "The power you seek is nothing to desired."

"You know nothing of what I desire."

"It _will_ drive you to paranoia, make you hurt those you love the most, and consume the entirety of your life with fighting to keep yourself under control. " Blake continued, only stopping at the sound of glass shattering and falling from the mirror wall.

"Really?" A deep voice called out from behind it. "It seems to have worked out well for you."

Blake turned her glare to the source, a bull Faunus standing behind the shattered wall in the all too familiar coat and White Fang visor. His lips were held in a tight frown and his sword was resting on the wrong side.

Her blood ran cold as he stepped over it, hand going for her own weapon. "Adam."


	41. Chapter 6-7

"You hurt me in a way I never thought was possible." Adam stepped over the short wall, right hand laying on top of the handle of his sword. It wasn't correct. If he had to draw, then he'd be using his weak hand. "Betrayed everything we stood for, everything we fought for."

"You asked me to kill people." Blake felt her heart beating in her neck while he stepped closer. Her blade felt heavy on her back, aching to be released. She could do it, end it right here.

"All I asked you to do was leave a bomb behind, but you couldn't even do that." He exhaled sharply through his teeth. "And now I find out you're running to our oppressors for comfort."

Blake focused her Aura into her muscles, the first of the techniques she had used to defeat the not-Anathema woman before.

"You have something to say to me?" Yang slid next to Blake, her eyes red.

Adam ignored her and continued walking over to the side of the table with Torchwick and the woman. "It makes me sick to see you like this. You could have done it, been the one to actually free us. But, instead… you do this."

He waved an arm to the side and pointed at Yang. The tips of her hair started lighting up one by one.

Blake focused on her swordsmanship next, bringing all of her lessons to the front of her mind. Each strike that might be needed, every twitch to catch her opponent off guard, and every opening which could be used to finish them: she forced these thoughts from her mind to her Aura.

"I would have forgiven you, if you had come back." He dropped his head. "Despite your betrayal, despite the pain that you caused me, I would have forgiven you, if only you came back to me. If only you showed that you really cared about our revolution. We had thought you were a blessing given to us, a sign that our cause was just and would be victorious. Instead, you were the Beowolf hiding in the pack."

Adam turned and raised his hand, clenching his pinky and ring fingers. After a moment, he curled his left hand over his right, forcing it into a fist.

Blake's eyes went wide. He was still injured. It had been months,his Aura should have healed that by now.

"What…" Yang gasped.

"This is her poison. Her namesake." He waved the same arm, his two fingers uncurling slightly. "The Blight that she turned on her own people, rather than use on you _humans_ who hurt us every day."

"You're the poison," Blake spat with a ferocity that she didn't know she had. "You twisted an organization that was supposed to represent peace into a cruel and vicious mockery of itself. You turned us into exactly that they said we were all along."

"I made us stronger, able to fight back and make real change happen."

"You made them into monsters." Yang stepped between the two of them.

"You know nothing of what we've been through." He grabbed the handle of his sword with his good hand.

"Adam, stop!" Blake said forcefully, holding her shock inside. A year ago, she could never have talked back to him like this. Even right after she became Anathema, she still followed his orders without question.

"Or what? Are you going to cripple my other hand?" He growled and looked at Yang. "You may have taken my blade from me, but I'll destroy everything you love if I have to."

Blake slipped an inch of her blade free and pulsed her Aura. Purple energy surrounded the blade, licking her neck with cool flames. "All that you do is hurt innocent people, both Faunus and… human."

"The only Faunus I've hurt are traitors to our people." He tensed slightly. "If you help the enemy, then you are the enemy, and deserve no mercy."

"Yeah, a bunch of shopkeepers whose only 'crime' is not giving you free dust. Real traitors, not like the man working with the most wanted human in Vale." Yang rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Adam turned to her and even though they couldn't see his eyes, the viciousness of the look was obvious.

The woman stepped in, pushing him to the side. Her previous shock was gone, replaced with the confidence she had when they first arrived. "There are more options than simply fighting. With your abilities, you could make such actions unneeded."

"I can think of a better way to do that than bowing to someone like you." Yang raised a hand, palm facing them.

Blake looked away from Yang while the other three raised an arm to cover their eyes. But Yang didn't blind them. Instead, Adam jerked towards her, flying through the air. Steel rang as he drew, but the movement ended in a meaty thump and a gasp from him.

Yang had pulled him to her hand and closed it around his throat, but he'd gotten his sword in the way. Blood dripped down the red blade, but from the sounds he was making, Yang still had a hard enough grip to keep him stuck in place. If Adam still fought like he had when she left, that strike should have severed whatever it hit. Instead, it just bit into the thick part of Yang's palm, her other hand on top of his pommel to stop him from drawing the last few inches.

The woman reacted before Torchwick, firing a wave of glass shards at Yang. Blake batted them away before they got close.

"How about a different offer?" Yang raised her voice above all of the other sounds and flared her hair with golden light. Adam rained rapid blows on Yang with his bad hand, but they only proved to make the glow stronger, not free him. No matter where he hit, she didn't move an inch. "If you continue to threaten my team like this, then I break you."

Blake frantically searched Yang's forehead, only relaxing when she couldn't find the symbol.

"You would never make it out of here without revealing yourself." The woman summoned more shards, but didn't fire them.

"So what?" Yang spat. "If it means that they're safe, then it doesn't matter what happens to me."

Blake's heart skipped a beat. Yang wasn't lying. She wasn't even exaggerating a little bit and... That meant that Blake needed to find another solution because she was not about to let Yang sacrifice herself like that.

"Stop struggling so much!" Yang yelled and kneed Adam's side twice. He barely deflected the blows, taking a more direct blow on his injured arm than he should. It also left him open.

Blake saw the strike that would do it. She could, end the threat that he posed to the innocents of the world right now. If they let him leave, he wouldn't change. He would just go back to what he'd been doing. He would hurt people in response to this and… And Ruby had called him a monster who should be killed. But… was that right? Could she really take that option now and stop herself from continuing to take it whenever it was convenient or she felt justified?

The woman fired another wave of glass, Torchwick joining in with a Dust shot, while Blake's attention was on Adam and Yang. Neither attack got past her.

Blake gulped, that was the problem in the end, her own judgment. She could feel justified doing it right now, no matter how much she still cared about the boy she had known three years ago. If he was still like that, she'd never be able to go through with it, no matter what else he'd done. And if that Adam, the person who she trusted implicitly, had asked her to kill someone, she couldn't be sure that she wouldn't have done it. And if she'd thought he was trustworthy, despite all of the evidence otherwise, could she really trust Ruby's unshakable morals as well?

Then again, Yang trusted Ruby like Blake had Adam. Pyrrha seemed like she did too, but Blake had seen what excessive faith had done to several members of the White Fang, including Adam himself. Some had gotten to the point of wanting to sacrifice animals to the Bloody Huntress when she left, thinking it was the best way to gain the goddess' favor. Pyrrha didn't seem like she'd be blinded that way, but she also followed the same religion that Ruby was claiming to be blessed by, despite actually being Anathema... Not that Blake would ever say that to Ruby or Yang.

"What do you think, Blake?" Yang turned to her.

"Think about what?"

"Everything they just said."

Blake blinked a couple of times. "Repeat that again."

Yang cleared her throat. "All three of them agree to cease any and all activities that would cause harm to either of us, Weiss Schnee, and Ruby Rose. They will not do anything which would reveal any information about us, physically harm us, financially harm us, or harm our reputations in any way. This applies to both themselves and anyone they command. In exchange, we agree to all of the same stipulations, only regarding them. All of this will last until the end of the semester or else a curse of misfortune will fall upon them."

Blake slowly nodded, then looked at them.

"I agree to your terms," the woman said tersely. She wasn't lying, but Blake still listened for her true meaning. ' _I will not act against you until midnight of that day and not a second longer.'_

Torchwick shrugged and nodded, speaking truthfully. "Sounds good to me, I don't have a death wish."

Finally, she turned to Adam. His lips were held tightly shut.

"Well?" Yang's light flared again.

"You're asking me to ignore the crimes of every Schnee. I will not stop fighting them."

"No." Yang leaned in closer. "I'm telling you that you'll either accept my demands or I'll make sure you can never hurt her again." Yang emphasized her statement by tightening her grip around Adam's neck, making the threat completely clear.

"I accept." He said, spitting on her. ' _You're dead in a week.'_

Yang smacked Adam to the ground with a fiery backhand to the side. The golden fire blazed on him, but didn't burn. When he hit the ground, she looked at Blake. Blake glared at Adam, but still nodded. As soon as it was confirmed, Yang flared her Aura even brighter, firing blasts of light from both hands at the walls, then fell dark, her eyes and hair back to normal.

"Come on, let's get out of here." She looped her arm into Blake's and pulled.

Blake followed, giving the three one last parting glance and sheathing her blade completely. She kept her Aura wrapped tightly around her until they were back on the street again, and didn't speak until they were several blocks away. Thankfully, people were giving them a very wide berth.

"Whew, glad that's done." Yang let out a long breath.

"What was that?" Blake whispered.

"A way out that didn't involve fighting."

"You didn't sound like you."

"That's because I wasn't all me."

Blake paused for a moment. "What?"

"I was using _her_ memories of handling things like that with scarier people."

"That's pretty risky." Blake gulped while Yang nodded. "And that curse?"

"A lie," Yang lied, then went back to the truth. "One of the… gold ones… can actually curse people if they break their word. I figured since my Aura's gold, it sounded plausible."

Blake gave her the 'I know you're lying' look and motioned for her to continue.

"Well, it was a lie for two of them. I actually did something to Adam." Yang grimaced. "If he attacks me, he'll be in for a load of pain."

"He's going to go after you and Weiss."

"Well… Hopefully I pissed him off enough that it'll be me first," Yang growled. "What about the other two?"

"We should be good." Blake paused and considered their reactions. "At least, we will be until Adam proves what the curse really is."

Yang sighed. "Gotta deal with them fast then."

"Yeah…" Blake looked at Yang's injured hand. "How bad is it?"

"Not too bad." She made a fist without wincing or hesitating. "Should be fine for the next couple of hours."

"Right, the concert."

"Nope, we're gonna go kill some Grimm."

"Why?"

"You should probably look in a mirror." Yang drew a breath between her teeth. "You're kinda giving death glare a new meaning and, uhh, scaring people."

* * *

Ruby hummed along to the sounds of the constellations as she put the finishing touches on Blake's blessing. It was a lot trickier to make because Blake didn't know very much about the place she was born. Also, Menagerie didn't have convenient maps of anything for Ruby to look up, so she couldn't even make a best guess about a lot of it.

Even with those challenges, she was pretty sure she'd get this blessing done right. Or as right as it could get considering it was about the same as Weiss' and Ruby didn't have any others to compare it to. The two of them were pretty similar, so she'd reused her old plans… Most of them anyway. Hopefully the blessing would work without any issues. But before trying it, she needed cookies… and hot chocolate.

Ruby swung off of the bed just as the door opened and Blake stepped in. She stank of sweat and Dust. She also looked very worn down.

"Hey, Blake." Ruby waved and paused. "How's it going?"

"Alright."

After a moment of waiting, Ruby asked, "Umm, weren't you and Yang going to a concert?"

"We were, but we didn't make it to the show." Blake tossed her weapon onto her bed and started rooting through her dresser.

"What'd you do instead?"

"Went Grimm hunting."

"Oh…" Ruby licked her lips. On one hand, they must've missed the concert and it was probably very good considering that Weiss liked the group. On the other hand, she'd never considered that a valid date before and the thought of it made her heart pound. "Well, killing Grimm sounds like an awesome date!"

Blake stared at her blankly.

"What? That's like the most perfect and romantic thing I've ever heard of, it's a great idea! You could make every mission so much better, just think about it." Ruby dashed over and slowly moved her hand as if she were showing off a horizon. "Two, or more, people joining forces to fight against evil would be so romantic and amazing. They could go on an incredible adventure of love and justice, smiting bad guys and being heroes. Just like what my mom and dad must've done.

"Though, could you keep some of the couple… or is it trio? Whatever. Keep the trio stuff... um a bit less when we're doing missions?" Ruby chuckled nervously. "I mean, it'd get super-awkward if I was there by myself and the three of you were off with each other, like you were a couple of days ago, and… yeah."

"You don't need to worry about that. We just… needed to let off some steam today."

"Uhh…" Ruby held up a finger.

Blake blushed and turned away. "Not that type of steam."

"Okay. But why-" Ruby cut herself off when a sense of danger raised itself. There was something that Blake really didn't want to talk about regarding why she had done that. After a moment of thought, Ruby continued with something else she'd been wondering. "So, why are all of you so… calm about everything related to the new relationship... thing... that you have? It's a big change and should be a big deal, but as soon as I ask about it, everyone's okay with whatever I want. It's just 'Yeah, sure. We can not do things that we'd want to do.' I mean, I haven't asked Yang yet and the last time I did she just made it worse for the next week, but still."

Blake sunk into herself slightly, not saying anything.

"All of you have so much passion and energy. Like all of the debating you and Weiss did." Ruby looked to the ground. "So, I sort of expected that energy to keep going, especially since you all just… ummm… revealed how you feel and there's no way that came out of nowhere with how much you and Weiss was okay with doing in front of everyone and-"

"There are-" Blake made a weird face. "-more important things to care about."

"Like what?"

"Torchwick and the White Fang."

"That's… I mean, that is important, but it's not so much more important that it overrides everything else." _Ruby looked at her options for finding this out. There were a lot of bad ones that would lead her nowhere._ "I'm not blind Blake and I know what you read so I know what sorts of things you'd want to do. There's something else going on besides just Torchwick."

Blake crossed her arms and turned away. Ruby could see the tension in her back, but her hair blocked her face. Of course, the pressure was there too, but for now she was going to ignore it. "They hurt Yang today."

"What?!" Ruby dashed around Blake with her Semblance.

"It's not that bad. I dropped her off at the medical center to get her hand taken care of and the nurse said she'd need a day or two at most."

Ruby waited for a moment, eyes wide and fingers trembling. How had Yang gotten hurt? She was Yang!"Is she going to be okay?" Ruby glanced at the door. "I should go see her."

"No." Blake grabbed her arm. "Yang'll be fine, it was a light cut."

"How did this happen?"

Blake looked away. "Torchwick ambushed us with the Anathema woman and… Adam."

Ruby sucked a breath in through her teeth, that would do it. They needed their entire team and then some to go after people like that. Also, if Blake's ex had been there too and he was better than she was, it must have been a really hard fight. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, Blake."

"It's… alright." She turned to the window and stared out of it. "He was… worse than I hoped, but better than I expected. He was the one who hurt her, though she hurt him more."

"You two didn't go looking for them again, right? Please tell me you didn't and this was just a coincidence." Ruby crossed her fingers. If they'd gone searching, by themselves, again, Weiss would be livid. She'd just started looking into the hard drives now that Crescent Rose was ready.

"They were looking for us."

Ruby nodded slowly.

"Torchwick was waiting for us near the concert hall in an alley," Blake continued before Ruby could ask another question. "I don't know how he knew we were coming, but on the way back, I spotted his men tailing us."

"Do you think he might have people working at Beacon undercover?" Ruby thought about all of the people who worked on the vehicles... along with the janitors... and the pilots... and all of the other random staff members who she didn't normally think about. She couldn't really put a face to a name for any of them.

"Maybe," Blake said. "I don't think it really matters though. If he could find us that easily, what's to stop him from doing it again?"

Ruby clenched her fists and searched for answers again. _Their paths for going after Torchwick and putting a stop to him appeared before her, then the ones for the Anathema woman. None of them felt good, but there was an option that was the least bad._ "We need to talk to Weiss about this."

"Why?"

"I checked the future and we need to fight them on our terms, with everyone ready. She'll come up with the best plan about how to catch them." Ruby laid a hand on Blake's arm and squeezed. If Blake was already feeling bad, then telling her what the odds were right now wouldn't help. That could wait for the next time Ruby had everyone in one place. "And then we can figure it out as a team. Though…"

"Do you want a hug in the meantime?" Ruby smiled, it had helped with Weiss.

Blake looked at her for a second. "Sure."

"Great." Ruby stepped forward. "I also finished your blessing, so if you want-"

"Just, do what you have to do."

Ruby wrapped Blake in the blessing and her arms at the same time. Though, the stickiness of Blake's clothes made her want to pull back pretty soon. "It's all done, feel any better?"

"Not really. I didn't notice anything."

"Well… This one was still pretty strong, but if you didn't, then I guess no one ever will…. Let me know if you ever feel different because of it." Ruby sighed. "Also, you should probably shower."

After a moment, Blake laughed. "Yeah. I'll be back soon."

While Blake walked away, Ruby looked to the future with another question. _How could she find out what my teammates are hiding?_ If it was something big enough that Yang got hurt, then she needed to know.


	42. Chapter 6-i

The airship set down at Beacon with a gentleness that only a civilian vehicle would be designed for. Though, the civilians were not the ones who would be leaving it first, even if that might have been what was appropriate for the scenario. Beacon Academy may be one of the safest locations on the face of Remnant, but they were too important to risk when the woman who stole the Fall Maiden's power was still at large in Vale. There was no reason why anyone should assume she knew about them, but she should not have known where Amber had been either.

As the ramp lowered, James Ironwood smiled at the Professor waiting for them. This would also give him a direct look at her reaction to two of Atlas' most eccentric individuals.

"General." Of course, she greeted him with a raised eyebrow and a short nod. "You're early."

"Glynda, it's been far too long."

She frowned and tapped her foot.

"A VIP transport ship was due to leave for Beacon today." He continued walking down, listening for the shuffling behind him at the door. When they appeared, he waved an arm back. "Glynda Goodwitch, Doctor Giuseppe Polendina and his daughter Penny."

"SALUTATIONS!" Two voices called out from behind him and made Glynda's eyes go wide.

She recovered quickly, shooting James a look of annoyance before returning to a neutral expression. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you."

"The pleasure is all mine." The Doctor bowed, with Penny mimicking the motion after a moment, the top of his head reflecting light into her eyes. In many ways, he was like a silly, balding version of one of Beacon's own professors, a man with a hunger for knowledge that surpassed anyone else that James had ever met. "I loved your paper on using Dust sorcery to imbue and reconstitute machinery. A truly fantastic theory, I must have read through it a dozen times."

Glynda blinked a couple of times. "Why thank you-"

"Though, I did have to wonder about the nature of your control group. The sample was randomized, but-"

"Doctor." Another voice called. A tall and dour man named Celik Farkas stepped off the ramp. The most apt description of him that James had ever heard was permanently in need of a vacation. Officially, he was the good doctor's bodyguard; in reality, Celik was his handler and keeper. "As interesting as that may be, we have a schedule to keep. Your tour will begin in five minutes."

"Tour?" Glynda looked from him to Penny. "Are you interested in coming to Beacon?"

"No ma'am." Penny shook her head, moving a bit faster than a normal person would. Though her hair moved exactly like a normal girls and the orange color matched what her father had in his prime. If James didn't know any better, he would have mistaken them for blood relatives. "This is my first semester at the Academy. I'm going to be a Specialist!"

Penny beamed with a bright smile that would have made Ironwood proud if it came from anyone, but it felt especially good coming from her.

"Penny is one of our most talented first years and will be participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament." James clapped a hand on the girl's shoulder. She had petitioned them for months to be allowed to go and her father had been overruled on the matter. "They wanted to take a look at Beacon's campus and she's far enough ahead for the trip to not interfere with her studies."

Of course, most of that knowledge was directly downloaded into her memory bank when she expressed an interest in attending the Academy early. Her father had objected, as he always did when it involved letting his daughter out of his sight, but in the end, he relented because Atlas Academy was one of the safest locations on Remnant. The trip to Beacon was another aspect of his particular parenting style. The good Doctor insisted on observing the layout of Beacon and its security for himself.

"It sounds like you've raised a wonderful daughter." Glynda smiled at them.

"Oh, I do my best, but my team deserves the real credit." The doctor let out a deep laugh while James and Celik stiffened up. "Some day my little Penny will be the greatest hero the world has ever seen!"

"We really need to be going, sir." Celik stepped up and tapped him on the shoulder. There was a reason why he needed a handler.

"Oh very well," He turned to the side and started walking. "We'll need to discuss the paper later. I'll be in town all week."

Penny looked at him for a moment, then started following behind with a slightly stiff gait. After two steps, she turned around and bowed again. "It was a pleasure to meet you!"

James stood next to Glynda and watched them walk towards the tour office. She leaned in and whispered, "They're quite the pair."

"That they are." He smiled. "Surprised?"

"Only that such quirks weren't trained out of them." Glynda narrowed her eyes at them and furrowed her brow. That was a look that James knew all too well. Glynda was far too perceptive and she'd noticed something. "What did he mean by his team deserves the real credit?"

"Doctor Polendina and his team are very close, practically family. They each helped raise Penny into the person she is today," James replied with a practiced half-truth. Penny, a.k.a. Project P.E.N.N.Y. MK 1, was the most secretive project that Atlas was currently embarking on. A team of their greatest scientific minds worked on her design for years. They suffered a tremendous number of mis-steps and failures. It was almost canceled twice due to the sheer expense, but in the end, they succeeded in creating an artificial individual with a soul, a unique Aura, and a spark of intelligence that other A.I.s lacked.

The Doctor had tried to explain what they did to construct her several times, but none of the theory made any sense to him.

"She's a lucky girl to have so many people looking out for her." Glynda turned towards Beacon's main tower. "Its nice to have people you can count on by your side"

James nodded and followed her in lock step. They made small talk, comments on the state of the academy or asking about her classes, until they reached the central elevator.

As soon as they were alone, she met his eyes. "What is the real reason that you came so early?"

He pulled a scroll from his jacket. "A new report on Anathema activity that is not to be transmitted over any open network. We don't want them to have any chance of finding out what we've found. Or, for anyone else to panic. I also wanted to have the time to check on Amber's condition and the equipment."

"She's been stable, all vitals within tolerance for the past few weeks."

"I'll perform a full systems diagnosis, just to be sure." He wasn't an expert on the system, but he knew more about the technology than anyone who didn't regularly work with it. And, having an Atlas technician, who specialized in technology that very few even knew existed, stationed at Beacon would be very suspicious. "Beyond that, have the high priority investigations been resolved?"

She sighed. "Not yet."

He raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue.

"We have a meeting with our most likely candidate scheduled for Tuesday." She couldn't tell him which one that was, so he didn't ask. "But, two days ago, teams RWBY and JNPR both boarded the same airship to downtown Vale and haven't been heard from since."

"Is this normal for them?"

"For two members of team RWBY, yes. However, the last time both teams did this, they encountered _her_ agent."

He took a deep breath. "We can only hope they're relaxing somewhere, but even if they are, it doesn't look good."

"No, it doesn't." She shook her head. "We're fairly certain that two of the three are Anathema at this point, but figuring out which two will be difficult."

"You still doubt that... " He tried to recall the name of the person who he was most suspicious of, but drew a blank. "One of them, the one that we were supposed to be meeting about."

"Ruby Rose."

"Yes, her." The memory clicked back into place as soon as he heard the student's name. "Do you still doubt that she could be a possibility?"

"I trust Professor Ozpin's judgement. Though-" She looked away. "-Miss Rose has made herself much more suspicious."

He waited while the floor elevator continued to rise.

"I've been attempting to recreate an ancient spell which has not been useful in the past. The spell summons a monstrous creature that rapidly decomposes as if it were a slain Grimm."

"You're sure it isn't so scared of you that this seemed like the best choice?" He smiled slightly at her exasperated scowl.

"I'm not so terrifying that creatures from hell would kill themselves."

"The evidence would disagree with you." James chuckled. "Do you remember the joint training session for freshmen teams last summer?"

"Oh god." She rubbed the center of her forehead.

"What was it that they called you? The Mistress of Discipline? Beacon's Drill Sergeant?" He could still remember the looks on his students' faces when Vale's representative gave out more punishments and corrections than any of Atlas'.

"They ignored my initial advice and blundered into every single trap that your team set. If it wasn't for Miss Scarlatina's Semblance, they would have lost four to zero." She shook her head and smiled.

"You can't always luck into a student with overwhelming abilities."

"I think you mispronounced individual skill and training."

"I'd take ten of our average Specialists over one of your heroes any day."

"That doesn't matter in the Vytal festival though, does it?" Glynda laughed softly "They will be participating in this year's tournament and have improved a great deal. The same tricks won't work again."

"I'm sure their matches will be very interesting to see." James considered the teams that Atlas would be sending to the tournament. One of them specialized in throwing their opponents off balance through taunts, jeers, and unconventional tactics. The other… could win through a single person's overwhelming power and had based their combat strategy around creating openings for Penny. In a way, it was enough of a departure from standard tactics to count as a misdirection in its own right. "But, regarding the spell. What was the result?"

"It's exactly as useless as the tomes suggest. It worked, but the creature immediately expired." She grimaced. "However, Miss Rose gave me a suggestion that made my third attempt come much closer to succeeding. When surrounded by a ring of burning Dust, the decomposition started at its head and took a much longer time to reach its feet."

"What have you been trying to summon?"

"A creature which can explain what it is, where it comes from, and will know of others which I can call upon for other information."

"Mmh." He hummed as the elevator slowed to a stop.

"General." Ozpin stood up from his desk.

"Ozpin, it's been far too long since we saw each other in person." James smiled and walked up to greet him.

"Indeed it has. Three years if my memory's right." He poured two cups of coffee and slid the tray over. "What brings you to us so early?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid." James poured a half shot of brandy into his, then took a drink. It was a bit too sweet, but that's how they drank it in Vale. "A new report from the Atlas Anathema Investigation Committee. Top secret, you'll be the first foreigner to see it."

He pulled the scroll out and typed in the pass code, then slid it to Ozpin. The room dimmed as its communications went into lock down.

"Page five has the first important bit." James continued as a chart displaying the number of confirmed Anathema sightings per month when compared to the confirmed kills appeared. "I know that we hoped this trend was a short term bump, but after fourteen months, I don't think there are any other options. The overall number of sightings has increased by a factor of two."

"We haven't seen as drastic of a spike here in Vale, but have had an increase as well. And it hasn't even been two years yet. During the Great War the number increased as well, but it soon settled back to normal." Ozpin paged to the next section, which was titled ' Evidence of New Anathema Classifications'. "This we have not seen."

James continued when the next image appeared. It showed a young boy with a blackened, bloody sunburst on his forehead and clouds of purple fire surrounding him. "Grey Wornman. He was the sole survivor of a Grimm attack where the entire village was consumed by blackened fire. I had initially suspected that a new variety of Grimm was the cause.

"He claimed that they arrived in an unprecedented number and quickly overwhelmed the walls. When he was knocked to the ground, bleeding to death, a voice called out to him and said that it would save him if he swore to destroy the world. He agreed, all too ready to fight back against a life that had wronged him." James shook his head. "He had few people who truly cared about him and all of them died holding off the Grimm. All that remained were his tormentors and soulless monsters. So he killed them, using his newfound power to light the Grimm on fire, while ignoring any collateral damage. When he saw what had happened, what he'd done, he immediately confessed, showing off harmless displays of his power because 'it was the right thing to do'. The colors didn't match, though the sigil did. We investigated further instead of immediately terminating him."

"Commendable, especially because of how far outside of protocol it was. I never thought you were capable of bending the rules so blatantly." Glynda scanned the text under the image.

"Just because Atlas is cold, doesn't mean she lacks a heart."

"If he had such a strong moral conviction, then he may have been willing to provide answers to a number of mysteries."

"If only we were so lucky. He tried to assist us with each of our tests and freely gave any information he had, but lacked any knowledge regarding what he had become… Any knowledge besides the maddened babbling that overtook him every night." The next image, titles two months later, showed the same boy. His face had shrunken in as if he was starving, because at the time he had been. "In time, he showed every single one of the secondary characteristics, along with several new ones. At one and a half months, any food or water brought to him immediately spoiled. He became unable to keep anything down and needed to be fed intravenously. Though, in time, even that failed."

James lowered his head and held his eyes shut when the next image appeared. Both Glynda and Ozpin gasped at the sight of what the boy had become. He was practically a skin-bound skeleton whose dark purple veins stood out against the paper-thin skin. James had been there himself and didn't not need the reminder. "With him withering away in front of us, we tried a number of highly unorthodox solutions: complete blood transfusion, Dust injection, even old techniques that have long since been discredited. Grey thought that killing someone could potentially relieve his torment, but refused to consider it, no matter if it would kill him. Without any other options, we resorted to something drastic.

"Old legends say that the sun can destroy creatures of the night and some martial artists have been able to channel power that can destroy the Grimm without harming people." James continued, both Glynda and Ozpin nodding. They all were familiar with many of the more esoteric styles due to the nature of their positions. "This is the result of trying to cleanse the corruption plaguing him with the power of the sun. During the procedure, he went mad and needed to be put down before he killed more adepts."

James clenched his fists and shook his head. "The boy was one of the kindest and bravest that I've ever met. He came to us even though he knew it may have been the death of him. I would have been honored to have him attend my Academy, but instead, he accepted some sort of deal and was cursed as a result. If we gave him more time, he may have adapted to the lack of food like other Anathema have been known to do."

"You did all that you could." Ozpin said with a pained look on his face. "But, sometimes, life doesn't allow for any results that we actually desire."

"No it doesn't and how I wish that was the worst part of the report." James tapped a button on Ozpin's desk that pulled up two more images of people shrouded in black and purple fire. "Two more instances of this type of Anathema, currently classified as B one through B three, have been caught on film. A serial killer who was taken out when she attacked an undercover Specialist and a medical student who attempted to fuse his classmates into what he called a Bone Horror. None of them lived through the procedure, but the resulting creation was still able to move. It was as if their bodies had been possessed by a Gheist."

"They certainly seem to be doing their best to prove all of the rumors and old wives tales about the Anathema correct." Ozpin scrolled to the next image, a woman surrounded by a silvery and green sandstorm. She had the symbol of a burning hourglass on her brow. "These we've seen before. I had thought them a mutation of the silver Anathema or perhaps a poorly thought out attempt at a disguise by one of them."

James nodded and finished his drink. "We haven't ruled that out, but also have evidence of a green and red Aura with a symbol that matched . Unlike the new black and purple Anathema, we can't be certain just yet."

"Do you have any theories about where they might come from?" Glynda continued skimming.

"Our scientists thought that this might be a Grimm Anathema for a long time. I disagreed for obvious reasons." James grimaced at the thought of Salem figuring out how to create Anathema herself. However, she had also been a threat to humanity for long enough that if she could have done it, she would have by now."It took me far too long to figure out an alternative theory which may just be correct."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"It will be easiest to explain if we go downstairs." He also needed to see Amber's readout again to confirm what they found.

"Very well." Ozpin stood up and deactivated the projection, then led them to the elevator. With a wave of a card, he enabled a floor that hadn't been there before. "James, I do assume that you've mastered the technique we spoke about."

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't have the time."

"Then we won't be able to make it to the ruins." Ozpin said tersely. It took a lot to make the old man annoyed.

James held up a finger and pulled a small case from his jacket. He opened it, displaying the blackened screws that had been created for him. "We found a technological means of reproducing the technique. Seven screws made out of a newly discovered material that consume Aura."

"Consume Aura?" Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"The material practically drinks Aura. If these are each screwed into one of the body's chakras, the person's Aura is completely suppressed and the Grimm ignore them."

"That sounds incredibly painful."

"It's not as bad a losing half of your body." He tapped on the back of his prosthetic arm. Losing that had been one of his most painful memories.

"I'm sure you'll understand my wanting proof of this." Ozpin adjusted his glasses and picked one up to take a closer look. The top of the screw appeared to be a distorted face, screaming silently. "These are ghastly."

"They're refurbished arrowheads from the ruin that the Spring Maiden helped us with." James had been present as a backup body guard in case the specter proved to be too strong. Fortunately, her magical powers had proven sufficient to destroy it without risking herself. "The craftsmen who worked with it reported nightmares every night they were on the project. It was the same as the doctors who tried to treat Grey."

"You suspect a connection then."

"I do." The elevator slowed to a stop and all three stepped out, walking briskly down the long hallway to Amber's pod. "We didn't have the chance to directly test their interaction, but if my recollection of Amber's readings is correct, there's definitely an association."

He also needed to check on the status of her Aura for other reasons. If they were to transfer the Mantel of the Maiden to someone else, then they needed the girl to be the best match they could find. James knew a perfect match would be impossible, no two people were that alike. However, if they could manufacture a synthetic individual with the right characteristics, then the power should easily transfer. A few months ago he doubted it could happen before Amber's life support failed, but James had a prime candidate. Not that he would bring this up with Ozpin before it became necessary, of course.

When they arrived at the pod, James closed his eyes. Amber was still lying in stasis, her scars not healing despite the strength of her Aura and the best medical technology Atlas had to offer.

He pulled up a diagnostic window and opened the Aura sensor. Three distinct patterns appeared on it. Two of them were the souls that every human had. The third was tattered, pieces of it ripped to shreds, but it still wove between the other two like a fine cloth, with a bright ball of energy forming at the center. That was the power of a Maiden.

"When we examined Grey, his souls showed a similar pattern. With one key difference." He pointed at the Mantel. "This energy did not exist, nothing did. It was as if there was an anti-energy that our sensors were never designed to recognize. This is consistent with the measurements at the site where we found the material being negative as well."

"How did he react to the scan?"

"As terribly as anyone else has. We were lucky that he had enough self control to only break the machine." James had also been through the process because he would not subject any of his men to something he was unwilling to face himself. A detailed scan felt like his soul was being torn to shreds. His entire body burned and it felt like each piece was being torn away from every other. It made losing his arm feel amazing by comparison. "If we can find more Anathema volunteers and they show the same characteristics, then we may be able to do away with tier two and three investigations."

"Hmm…" Ozpin stepped up to the console and looked over the options. "Can this machine perform the scan?"

"Yes." James paused and watched Ozpin's eyes darting over the controls. "Why?"

"Something that has been on my mind since the start of the semester. I can't explain it now, but everything will make sense tomorrow." Ozpin stepped back and rubbed his thumb over the top of his cane. "Sleep well tonight, we set out at dawn... Assuming that your screws pass the test, of course."


	43. Chapter 7-1

Ruby knocked on the door to team JNPR's compartment and crossed her fingers. Thankfully it was Pyrrha who opened it.

"Ruby?" She raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

"Uhhh," Ruby'd just walked about halfway down the train without letting them know she was coming. That probably would've been a good idea, but she hadn't exactly been in the right frame of mind when she left. They'd been going over what might happen during the next investigation and… Well, the rest of them wouldn't be allowed to follow during it and waiting to hear if their teammate was dead would be almost as torturous as what happened during it. "The rest of my team wanted some alone time and I could've sat around in my room, but-"

"It's no problem." Pyrrha's cheeks went bright red and she stepped back. "We were just about to start a new game."

"Actually…" Ruby looked away, holding her breath. "Can I talk to you for a little bit?"

"Of course." Pyrrha turned around and called to her team, "I'll be right back."

They stepped away from the door, swaying with the movements of the train. The powered down robots clanged against the walls of the security car as it turned.

"What did you want to talk about?" Pyrrha stepped close enough that they could speak loud enough for each other to hear, but quietly enough to not be overheard through the door.

"What would you do if you knew you were headed towards an unhappy Fate?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you knew it was going to be bad, how would you try to fight it?"

"I…" Pyrrha looked down and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. Your Destiny isn't something that you can fight. There are countless stories about people who've tried and failed. No matter how much they struggle to avoid it, their destiny will always come back and find them... Well, except for the legends where one of the Maidens of Destiny changes it for the person."

Ruby blinked at her a couple of times. "But that's not how it's been working at all. I've read the future a lot of times and it can definitely change. If it couldn't, then we wouldn't have gone to the first fight unprepared."

"I-" Pyrrha stammered. "I suppose that your status might have something to do with that. Mars may have given you the means of changing the future in a way that normal people can't."

"But, Blake and Yang were the ones who changed that? They went out by themselves."

"Were they really the ones who did? Or were your own actions the cause?" Pyrrha closed her eyes. "If you are in control of your Fate in ways that the rest of us are not, then I would assume that your actions could change the paths that others take."

Ruby considered the way that the paths branched out for her choices. It was always regarding what she thought would be best, but something still didn't feel right about that. Some of her predictions had gone wrong even when she didn't mention them to anyone.

"Ruby…" Pyrrha laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "What is this really about?"

Ruby gulped and looked away. She'd spent the past few days searching for another answer, but had not found any. "I've been trying to find a future where this mission goes well…"

"You don't think it's going to?"

"I know it isn't, but…" Right squeezed her eyes shut. "But everything else I've thought of is worse. That's why I hoped you might know of a way to fight Fate."

Pyrrha stayed silent for a long time. "What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know exactly, but none of us are going to wind up happy with the results." Ruby was going to be especially bad. As soon as she realized the problems she looked at every choice which could lower the burden on everyone else. If the teams were split up, then it was better. If JNPR took the front car, they would be hurt less. If she gave the rest of her team all of the privacy they wanted, then they'd end better. "I don't think that anyone's life's at risk, but a lot of us are going to be hurt."

Well, no one's life was at risk anymore. Jaune's future defending the end of the train would have been bleak and Blake's was almost unreadable, but Ruby trusted that she'd been safe thanks to how well she fought against the Anathema last time.

"That doesn't sound like it would be too bad," Pyrrha said slowly, her voice straining in a way that made her sound like she was lying. "Even after I won some fights, I felt bad because of my performance and heavily strained myself. We're fighting against a murderer and an Anathema now, some degree of risk should be expected. Besides, from what you said, every other option was worse, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then…" Pyrrha hesitated, glancing away and then looking Ruby in the eyes. "Then I trust you to have made the right decision about this. Though… Why haven't you told the others about it?"

"I wanted to, but there were two problems." Ruby glanced at the door near them. "For most of them, knowing made the result worse. Probably because they'd be worried and wind up being off their game. And also… I don't really think the others believe that I can do this like you do."

"I see…" Pyrrha bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for trusting me with this. I- I understand your worries. Though, I do wish that we could give our teammates forewarning of the trouble ahead."

"If you're looking out for team JNPR, then I'm sure you'll all be okay."

"I'll do my best." Pyrrha laughed slightly and moved towards the door. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ruby breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, would you like to come in then?" Pyrrha held the door opened.

"Heheh, yeah." Ruby awkwardly laughed as she stepped in. Everyone else was still sitting around a table, playing cards. "So what game were you all playing?"

"It's a old game from our home village." Ren gathered up the cards and looked at Nora. "Do you know who this is now?"

"Yep." Nora saluted with her scroll.

"I didn't recognize you at first either, but now we're all set." Jaune ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "All's quiet on this front... of the train."

Ruby grinned. She didn't feel like there was any danger, so they were fine. "Yeah, I haven't felt any danger yet and I'm pretty sure that Weiss has automatic alarms set, for when she's distracted."

"About that." Ren picked up the cards and started pulling a particular set of them out to the table. "How did she get us assigned to this job? Guarding an SDC train is something that would normally require professional Hunters."

Ruby hummed while she thought about it. "I dunno. She's the heiress to the company, so I'm sure there are some strings she could pull. Besides, we're basically Hunters at this point anyway."

Ruby glanced at Jaune,who was staring at the ground.

"Well, mostly."

Jaune groaned. "Rub it in, why don't you?"

"You've been improving at an incredible pace, Jaune. " Pyrrha reached toward him, but stopped before she touched his arm. Nora gave them a knowing look, but didn't say anything. Ruby didn't know what the look meant, but she had seen it on Nora before whenever the girl was resisting the urge to say something.

"Not by enough. I'm still stuck on what to do with my sword, even with all of your help and Ruby casually figured out how to teleport in a couple of days."

"Wait, you remember that?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"You just did it yesterday!" Jaune raised his voice. "And I wrote about it at the bottom of the memory note."

"Oh… Well, it wasn't really all that much." Ruby looked away.

Jaune frowned at her.

"I mean it. It was… ummm… more like rediscovering something that I could already do," Ruby lied, unable to look at any of them. It did look a lot like her normal Semblance use, but it wasn't. She couldn't really explain what was happening to someone who couldn't perceive the way the energy of the Banner flowed through a battlefield. Crescent Rose could cut through so many other things now and… distance seemed like a good first thing to try since her old techniques always involved firing herself in a direction. With the new technique, her direction could now be towards a fight. It might've looked like teleporting, but she was really just traveling along the path of greatest conflict.

"Sure…" Jaune mumbled and shook his head. "Whatever, let's play some cards."

"Sure thing!" Ruby cheered, then looked at Ren. "So, how do we play?"

* * *

Weiss growled when a very tight grip around her collar pulled her away from a kiss and two warm bodies. She had not expected just how used to it she'd become over the past week. Yang's enthusiasm was infectious, even when she wasn't trying to draw them in with her Exalted abilities, and Blake's reactions were so adorable that it took an incredible amount of self control to not press her even harder.

"That's enough of that for now," Blake said between pants, holding Weiss and Yang at arm's length, both of them dangling in the air.

"Aww." Yang pouted and swung herself back and forth. "We were just starting to have fun."

"You were the one who asked for privacy in the first place." Weiss crossed her arms then smirked. If Blake was going to deny her some fun, then she could always get it some other way. "Unless there's something else you'd rather be doing instead."

"There's something that I wanted to talk about… and try." Blake set them down, not reacting to the innuendo in the slightest.

"Oh?" Yang leaned in, leering at her. "Tell me more."

"I've been trying to figure out how to do something… more useful for a long time."

"You can accomplish an incredible number of useful things," Weiss snapped, now realizing where this was going for the third time in two days.

"Yeah, assassinating people."

"Blake." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. The defeatism had gotten to be too much, again. "You can write well enough to force people to remember Ruby, disagree with me in a debate, and tell when anyone's lying. Try and tell me that those aren't useful abilities."

"They won't help me avoid being caught."

"Yes. They. Will." Weiss spoke louder with each work. "You can resist whatever they try to convince you of and also see through any bluffs."

"And how will that keep me from revealing myself when I almost die?!" Blake threw her arms to the sides, eyes full of fear. "I can't just let it happen like you did. None of you will be there to make sure I'm alright and… and I…"

Yang stepped in and wrapped her arms around Blake, who shivered and clenched her eyes shut.

Weiss stepped up and joined in. "You'll be fine. Without the rest of us there, they won't need to make it extra dangerous. And once you're through, we just have to make sure Yang passes as well, then we're all free."

"I don't think I can do it," Blake whispered into Weiss' shoulder.

"Why not?" Yang leaned her head on the back of Blake's.

"Because almost dying is what caused it… Becoming Anathema."

"We need more than just that." Weiss resisted the urge to sigh.

"Give me five minutes," Blake mumbled again.

They happily complied and five minutes later were sitting in a circle on the ground, holding hands.

"I…" Blake started slowly. "Explaining this and, some of the other things that have been on my mind, means that… I need to come clean about something."

Weiss and Yang both nodded.

"Weiss." Blake tightened her grip. "I- I used to be a member of the white Fang."

Weiss took a deep breath and pushed down her anger at the entirety of that atrocious organization. "I thought as much."

Yang glanced at Blake, then mouthed the words 'I knew it' after confirming that Blake wasn't looking her way.

"You're not mad?"

"You've spent the past several weeks helping us act against them." Weiss squeezed back. "Those aren't the actions of a violent maniac."

Blake let out a held breath. "Thank you. Now, when I was with them, I… fought a lot. There was one mission where we attacked a mine to steal the money they had and give it to the workers. We succeeded and I kept my companions from killing anyone… until the end."

Weiss nodded. If she was right about the attack and which group Blake had been a part of, that was the attack that put Adam Taurus on her father's map. He butchered the entire office and, unlike other White Fang attacks, left as little evidence of who was involved behind as was possible.

"When we were cleaning up, one of the guards I took down shot me. My aura was low and I wasn't ready for it. His bullet hit my heart." Blake shuddered. "While I was bleeding out, I heard a voice. It offered me the chance to stay alive in exchange for killing everyone. It went against everything I'd argued with Adam about, but I was angry, in shock, and just had someone I spared literally shoot me in the back. I said yes and became an Anathema."

"Exalted." Weiss corrected, recalling her conversation with Tialeth. "Between the three of us, we should use the proper terms when we can."

"Exalted then," Blake mumbled. "Anyway, Adam killed everyone there to stop them from talking about me and I haven't heard from that voice since. But, I know that it isn't happy with me. All it wants me to do is hate and kill."

Yang flinched, but stayed quiet.

"I've fought those urges whenever they appear, but if I ignore them, then it curses me and the only thing that helps is…"

"Killing Grimm." Weiss finished the sentence. Blake had let them know very early on. "And your investigating will likely not involve them because you know what to look for."

After she told them, Weiss poured through her memories of the Vale manual to figure out what they would likely do. The best estimate was heavy sleep and food deprivation along with an attack by Hunters. Depending on who they had available, an illusion Semblance was likely and phantom conjuring sorcery was guaranteed.

"What happens when you fail to do so?" Weiss had never seen Blake like that because she was so careful about it.

"I don't know. I figured it out when my eyes started glowing and lights either flickered or burst. I never let the curse progress further than that."

Weiss squeezed Blake's hand and fell silent. The two of them, Blake and Yang, were so similar, not at all like her or, if her suspicions were correct, Ruby. Both were new types that hadn't been seen before. Both were cursed in some way and had methods of dealing with the curse which could be unpleasant. And both seemed to be derived from the golden Anathema, Solars, in some way.

"If it's anything like mine, never let it get there," Yang said.

"If they keep me away from the Grimm, I'm not sure how I could avoid it." Blake shook her head. "It got bad during the last one and we were constantly killing them."

"Are there any other methods which might help?" Weiss pulled on Blake's arm slightly. Blake looked up in response. "There were multiple options for Yang's, there may be others for you as well."

"Sleeping well can help. But, that also isn't likely to happen from what you've said."

"What about sleeping less, but getting the same result?" Weiss smiled. "There are stories about new capabilities being developed like that."

"I can try, but… there's something else I figured out. Give me a moment to focus on it."

A moment later, Weiss' hair stood on end. A presence appeared in the back of her mind, pressing against it. She recoiled initially, but when the presence remained steady, relented.

'Can you hear me?' Blake's voice echoed in her head, slightly distorted. The girl's lips remained closed.

"Yes, I-" Weiss spoke aloud, then cut herself off. She could still feel the connection that formed and tried to think at it. 'Can you hear me?'

Blake nodded. 'I can, give me one moment to add Yang.'

Yang's head snapped up, her eyes wide. She tensed up to the point where Blake winced, but soon relaxed.

'Were you able to hear that?' Blake asked.

'No. You're the only one I can hear.' Weiss shook her head.

Blake groaned. 'That's much less useful than I hoped.'

Weiss dug one of her nails into Blake's hand. 'Stop saying that about yourself! This opens so many options up for us, even if you have to serve as a communications hub. Do you know how far away you can maintain this?'

'I think I could contact Ruby, but I'm not going to try it.'

'Good idea.'

Blake looked at Yang, while Weiss took time to plan. She had a good amount of leeway with the professors because of her previous investigation and Ruby was seemingly immune to being investigated, for some reason. Ruby had admitted to being able to force choices on people. It was only a matter of convincing Ruby of it without revealing themselves in the process.

"I have a risky solution," Weiss said aloud so both Blake and Yang could hear her. "We need to get Ruby's help to pull it off."

"Weiss, what're you going to do to my sister?" Yang squinted at her. Even now, she was still incredibly suspicious.

"We need to convince Ruby that Blake will be safer if she needs to fight Grimm."

"How will that-" Yang frowned. "She… she'd do it if she thought it would help."

Weiss nodded.

"I don't like it, manipulating her like that."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No." Yang squeezed Weiss' hand hard.

Weiss squeezed back. "Until both of you are through, then we need to consider anything which would help."

"I'm not going to consider everything," Blake cut in. "If it comes down to me or one of the professors, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to kill them."

"That was never in my list of options in the first place." While either Blake or Yang would be more useful than any Hunter, there was no point in doing something that would draw more suspicion onto them that also wouldn't help matters. Also, the idea was repugnant for a number of other reasons. They would be killing someone who was trying to help humanity the best ways they can.

"Okay… I can talk to her then." Blake leaned back. "I think she'll listen to me about it."

"Mmh." Weiss nodded. "If you need any advice on what to say." 'We can always talk this way.'

"What?" Yang quirked her head to the side and smirked.

"Right ,we ca-" Blake cut herself off with a sputter and a blush. Her eyes snapped to Yang, boring into her.

Yang grinned. "This is going to be so much fun."

"I'm cutting the connections now," Blake said with a flat tone. Her presence in Weiss' mind vanished.


	44. Chapter 7-2

A chill crept through James' mechanical body parts as the sun dipped low. It made the living flesh that was directly attached ache and throb, just like the irritated skin surrounding his specially prepared inserts. The screws were in place, they had been ever since the morning when they took off on Ozpin's conjured chariot.

It was a rarely used spell, an anachronism if there ever was one. The chariot could only travel towards a single destination and flew slower than most planes. Fifty years ago it had a use, today it was a spell that was only used when absolutely necessary.

And now was one of those times.

Ozpin and Glynda were both standing completely still, their muscles relaxed despite the cold. They'd been under the technique for hours, reacting with less emotion than early Atlas robots.

That was the might of Old Vale, the dedication that allowed them to deny their innermost selves. The resilience to put oneself through training that would harrow anyone.

He could have done it too, but he didn't have the time and there was no reason to do so when technology could solve the problem instead. That left him with his emotions... and without his Aura. Normally that would not be a good trade, but they were going into enemy territory. If they were caught, then it was all over anyway.

Ozpin shifted the reins slightly, and the shining blue horses fell forward. Jame's stomach lurched at the sudden move, not used to lacking his Aura. He kept his lips tightly held to stop the nausea from hitting him as they dropped like a stone, plunging through the clouds and reaching the ground as quickly as possible.

At the last moment, the chariot leveled out and slowed down. The wheels touched the rocky soil, going fast enough to dig deep trenches in it. They were so far inland that he quickly lost sight of the ocean during the fall.

"We're here," Ozpin said, his words containing less feeling than usual. The lack of any inflection sent shivers down James' spine.

The ground beneath them was a dark red, as if it was stained with old blood. It was also devoid of any life. Even the northern reaches of Atlas had some vegetation, but not here. The only birds in the sky were small Nevermores.

"We have to move quickly and cross over before night falls." Ozpin broke off into a run, each step inaudible. The only sound came from something that James hadn't seen in years. Ozpin had his sword on his belt and had left his cane behind.

Glynda and James both followed, staying silent as they moved. They raced up a mountain, the ground worn into a natural path from the Grimm travelling. The claw marks of a pack of Beowolves were fresh and close enough that they might have been a problem, if they weren't invisible to the Grimm.

The beasts could still see or hear them, but their night sight was not much better than a human's and without any emotions for the monsters to latch onto, they wouldn't be able to accurately track anything. Ozpin proved that much when he flew close to great Nevermores on the way over. The gigantic birds noticed them, but didn't attack. They were treated more like curiosities or regular animals. It made the howling ahead of them not too much of a worry.

They dashed behind a boulder as the Beowolf pack crested the hill. In a normal scenario, he'd have made a comment to Glynda about how closely pressed together they were, but she wasn't capable of appreciating it right now.

Seeing Ozpin dead to the world was strange, a barb-less Glynda was unheard of. She had a sharp tongue even when she was so drunk she could barely stand.

They stayed still, each holding their own breath, for almost a minute. The pack of Grimm was headed towards their landing site.

As they continued up the hill, no more Grimm appeared. But still, they dashed from hiding place to hiding place, waiting at each safe location to be sure that they could continue ascending. Step after step, leap after leap, they climbed. By the time the sun had finished setting they reached the top. And only at the top could he truly comprehend the majesty and horror that was Salem's territory.

Colossal Dust crystals dotted the valley below, each large enough that anyone with an Aura even approaching them could be dangerous. Flares of fire and lightning erupted from the edges whenever a Grimm came nearby, but even one being destroyed every second would do nothing to their numbers. A veritable ocean of black fur and white masks blanketed the ground. Thousands upon thousands milled about with types that James had never heard of standing at watch.

The sight of it made his heart race, a horde larger than any that had attacked them before. If she sent an army like this against any kingdom, her victory would have been assured. It made his blood run hot just thinking about it. But, even all of that, all of the terror, paled in comparison to the feeling of the air.

The scent of iron and salt was so strong that he could taste it. The ground, in the darkest part of the night, seemed to glow as if it was a sheet of snow at high-noon, despite the light still being too dim to see in. If it wasn't for that ocean of darkness, he might've been blinded.

"We made it in time." Ozpin slowly walked off of the path. "Follow as quickly as you can."

"I need a moment." Glynda rubbed her eyes

Ozpin hesitated for several seconds, just long enough for James and Glynda to start following. He led them off of the path and along a very narrow cliff. The pounding of James' heart made him very aware of where the screws were. If the Grimm noticed them now, there would be no escape. At best, they'd perish quickly. At worst, Salem would have them.

* * *

 _A vision of combat floated through her mind._

 _A dance of flesh and steel, of scythe and rifle._

 _With each step, she swung and with each swing, she fired._

 _Unity in form and function, a girl who would be a weapon and a weapon that-_

Ruby sat straight up, a sudden feeling of dread overcoming her. Every hair on her body stood on end while her every sense screamed at her that danger was coming soon. She rolled out of her bed, activating her sigil so she could look around her room, and grabbed her scroll, flickering to the group radio channel.

"Everyone up! There's something on their way!" she shouted into her scroll as she started lacing up her boots.

"Where from?" Weiss yelled from above. It must've been her watch.

"Not sure. Just a general bad feeling." Ruby could only hear the chugging of the train as it roared over the tracks.

Nora said, "Nothing on my end."

As soon as her boots were on, Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and dashed to her teammates' room with her Semblance. Yang and Blake were halfway ready.

"I've got them," Weiss said as Ruby's scroll pinged. An image of the night sky appeared on it. There were six patches of darkness where there should be stars. "Six Bullheads, coming in very low, without any lights."

"That makes sense." Blake checked the number of rounds in her magazine. "If the White Fang's leading the attack, then coming in at night, when non-Faunus can't see well, would be best for them."

"What about Torchwick or the Anathema woman?" Yang strapped on extra rounds. "Wouldn't they be just as blind?"

"There's no way the SDC would hire an all Faunus defense team," Ruby mused over the air.

"Hey!" Weiss shouted. "That's not entirely true."

"Well anyway, the White Fang wouldn't expect them to. That means they're counting on us needing to use lights to fight, which isn't wrong." Ruby could handle close quarters combat just fine by herself and Blake was a Faunus. All of team JNPR, except maybe Pyrrha, would need some form of light. "So, those two can hang back and fire away at range."

"Which is where the Anathema wants to be fighting from." Jaune finished Ruby's thought over comms.

"Exactly." Ruby slammed her fist into an open palm. "She'll be able to see us and cast with impunity and we won't be able to target her as easily. There are also a number of spells which can prevent most ranged attacks: whipping winds, barriers of water, the light-thing she was using before. Which will only make the problem that much worse."

"What's the plan?" Weiss asked.

"Blake." Ruby looked to her teammate. "Go to Weiss and try to figure out which of the ships she's on. It'll probably have long-range guns or be the most heavily armored. Jaune, Ren, and Nora: you three are on spotlight duty until they get to your part of the train. They have both manual and scroll based control schemes, use whichever one fits best and once we've found her, keep the light on her. Jaune, when the fighting breaks out, you're on lights."

"Got it," They all called out.

"Weiss, how high do you think you can launch Blake?" Ruby continued going over her plan while Blake headed up.

After a moment that was incredibly long compared to the time it took Weiss to normally respond, Weiss said, "As high as we need her to go."

"You're sure?"

"It may take some layering and multiple boosts, but yes."

"Good." Ruby grabbed Yang's arm when her sister started trying to follow Blake. "Blake, do whatever it is that you did during the last fight. We need to be as ready as we can be."

Yang tilted her head to the side. Ruby mouthed the word 'wait'.

"Is there anything I should be doing?" Pyrrha asked, slightly out of breath.

"Pick off targets of opportunity with your rifle and keep your team safe when they close in." Ruby waited for a moment. "If there're no other questions, I'll see you all on top."

Ruby waited again, then hung up.

"So, what's this about?" Yang shrugged and closed her scroll.

"Well…" Ruby glanced away and sighed. "We haven't really gotten a chance to talk for a while and…"

 _Ruby quickly checked her options._ She didn't want to say that Yang was going to be the second worst hit by her current plan because that would turn her into the actually worst hit.

"And?" Yang rolled her hand in a circle.

"Well, I wanted to know how you were doing?" Ruby giggled nervously, ending in a silly grin. Some amount of keeping all of this from everyone was probably leading to how bad things would be for her, but there were worse things in the world than spending some time being miserable.

"Good I guess?" Yang rubbed the side of her neck and looked away. "Is this really the time to talk about it though?"

"Considering Blake's going to get investigated as soon as we get back? I think so," Ruby lied with a shrug. "I mean, you should be feeling pretty good about things, right? Well, besides that."

Yang looked Ruby in the eyes and gave her a highly suspicious look. "Why would that-" Her eyes briefly flickered over to red. "Ruby, I'm not some delicate flower! You don't need to worry about me breaking down again."

"Uhh-" Ruby stepped back. That wasn't exactly what she was worried about, but it was close enough.

Yang grabbed Ruby's hand and pressed it to the side of her neck. "See I'm fine, not tense or anything. I'll be there for the fight."

Ruby gave Yang a squeeze. Her muscles felt a little tight, but nothing like that had before. "Okay, but seriously… Are you happy right now?"

If Yang was good, then maybe her getting hit bad would mean she fell down to neutral. At least, that was Ruby's hope.

"Better than I've been for months." Yang grinned, even though that wasn't exactly a good thing, then frowned. "Are you?"

"O-of course I am." Ruby smiled as widely as she could. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ruby." Yang grabbed her by the shoulders. "What's going on? This isn't like you."

"N-Nothing's wrong."

Yang's squeezed. "You're about as bad as I was."

Ruby tensed up more, but it didn't push Yang's fingers away. "I'll be fine. As soon as we're done and you're safe, then I'll be fine."

"And I'm safe…" Yang slowly said the words as her grip loosened. "Why would you be that worried about me?"

Ruby opened her mouth and didn't say anything. She just messed up. She just royally messed up.

"Sis?"

"I-I-" Ruby stammered and held her eyes shut. There was no way Yang was just going to let that slip go without Ruby forcing her to. "I'm sorry."

Yang closed in and wrapped her arms around Ruby, rubbing the back of her head with one hand. "Come on, what's so bad?"

Ruby shivered and leaned into Yang. "I've… I've been trying to make sure that whatever happens isn't bad."

"Mmh hmm."

"And..." Ruby gulped and shook her head. "And I haven't been able to find a way to do that."

"Ruby, what do you mean?"

"None of us are going to end this mission happy. Especially the two of us."

Yang's grip tightened again. She shook slightly. "I-I don't… How?"

"I've been looking at the future every chance I get and trying to make it better, but even with this, even with the pain, it's better than the alternative."

Yang held on for a while before backing away and lifting Ruby's head up. "Who's going to get hurt?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby met her eyes, they were full of fire.

"I know us, both of us." Yang pointed from Ruby to herself. "If either of us got hurt, we'd feel bad, but it wouldn't be the end of the world, especially if we knew it was going to happen. If Blake did or Weiss get stabbed, or worse, and we could've stopped it…"

"Blake's the one I have going after the Anathema woman and the White Fang are attacking." Ruby could follow the train of thought perfectly.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Telling you makes the pain worse."

Yang glanced down. "Knowing makes it worse, huh."

"Yeah."

"That makes them being the targets make ever more sense." She help a hand up and clenched it. "Well… You can tell me anything. Even if it hurts, we're sisters and-"

Ruby's scroll started buzzing. Weiss was calling her.

Yang laughed and swiped it to off. "-and we should get up there, make sure they stay safe."

"Yeah." Ruby nodded.

"After all of this is done… We can talk about stuff." Yang pounded her fists together. "But for now, let's keep those two safe."

* * *

Five minutes later, Ruby took position on top of the security car. There was a slightly raised platform that would give her sight-lines along the entire train.

Weiss and Blake were set up towards the front of it, with team JNPR much further forward. They couldn't move as quickly as any of team RWBY, so they were stationed close to the most important car to defend, the engine. The White Fang would just take it out if they were allowed to and forcing them to cut cars free would slow them down a lot.

"Is everyone ready?" Ruby whispered into her mic.

"Ready." The teams called back.

The Bullheads were coming in very low, slowly creeping up to the end of the train.

"Lights on my mark." Ruby leaned over, using Crescent Rose's beak-spike as a bipod. She was in sniper mode, peering down the sight and locking in on one of the airships. As the Huntress with the longest ranged weapon, the first part of the engagement would be her responsibility.

A flash of white appeared from the side of the airship.

"Mark," Ruby whispered. A split second later, the spotlights caught all of their enemies at once. _With a slight movement, almost imperceptible, four Ruby's took aim at the Bullhead. Two fired, then two more. Two pairs of rounds flew at the pilot and co-pilot, the first Fire Dust and the second Gravity Dust._

The first rounds exploded against the windshield, weakening the glass. The second pair punched though, striking her targets and flinging them away from their seats. Ruby herself flipped through the air from the kick-back, landing with Crescent Rose shifted into her scythe mode.

"Weiss, Blake. Get ready." Ruby sighted in the other Bullheads, shifting to regular rounds for regular combat.

The one she had shot was currently spiraling into the forest with its occupants jumping for the train, and mostly missing. Two of the others had powered up their engines and were rocketing ahead. The third, which was surrounded by a miniature cyclone, was climbing much more slowly than it should've been able to.

"Ice Flower, top ship." Ruby called out and took aim. As soon as Weiss' glyph appeared in front of her, she opened fire, her rounds coated in ice. Her first couple of shots were blown wide by the swirling winds, but after she corrected for that, the windshield was frosted over immediately.

Ruby pivoted to the car in front of them, where White Fang operatives were still landing. _She traced a line of violence between them and fired._ Eight fell to the ground, blasted away from the train from the force of her shot. Her heels skidded against the metal while she took aim at the most distinct member, who was probably the strongest.

When a she fired, a man dressed in black intercepted the bullet. His red blade cut it in two as he fell between Ruby and the rest of the White Fang. He had a vicious, toothy grin on his face. "You brought the Schnee to fight me."

"Adam," Blake whispered between her teeth.

Ruby glanced back and shook her head. Blake looked ready to charge, but this wasn't her fight. "Weiss, launch then fall back!"

Yang stepped up, stopped when she was next to Ruby. "You ready for round two. Maybe you'll be able to do something with that sword of yours."

"This time you'll be the one on the ground." He switched the sword to his other hand and held it up.

Yang exhaled and launched herself forward with a blast from her gauntlets. Her first punch caught him in the side of the face.

Ruby looked at him fly back and quirked her head to the side. Why was him switching hands important?


	45. Chapter 7-3

Yang stepped back and dropped herself into the stance of the Crimson Pulse. Her blood pounded in her ears to the beat of the streets while her muscles moved with the ferocity of the brawler.

Adam swung at her neck; she slapped his blade up and grinned. When his steel touched her shoulder, his side erupted in golden fire, a terrible explosion that tore through his jacket and threw blood all over her, just like they both knew it would.

She fired a round to the side, forcing herself into a spin. Her elbow caught the newly opened wound and sent the man sprawling. "What was that about me being on the ground?"

One of his minions sent a burst of bullets at her. She battered them to the side, the bits of metal bouncing off the ground like raindrops.

A shot from Ruby stopped the spray of bullets by knocking the White Fang girl off of the train.

Adam rushed at her again, Yang leaned back, letting the tip of his sword clip her jacket and nothing else. His followup caught her in the middle of the chest, but only ruined her jacket.

A knee to the gut blasted him away again. She snapped a shot off, but he caught it with his blade, just like she hoped.

Yang could've ended this fight quickly. She could have called of the fire of hell to burn through his Aura and destroy him. That would probably be the smart option, but it wasn't the one she was going to take.

He needed to be decisively defeated, humiliated in front of his men. Just being beaten down by someone with a stronger offense wasn't enough; she had to prove herself his superior in every way. She needed to take his best head on and come away victorious. Only then would Weiss and Blake be safe from them. Yang had dealt with people like this before. The only language they understood was violence and her partner didn't have the viciousness to do what was needed.

If it took branding every single one of them with a blow that could kill, if it took letting their leader when he was as power-up a he could be to make them understand, then Yang would be more than happy to do so. All to keep the people she cared about safe.

"You need to learn when to take a hint." She stomped on his foot and stepped in with a blow to Adam's side. _Aura pulsed through her strike, imbuing it with such force that the air around it tore._ When she hit, the force exploded, smashing him into the ground.

He impacted with a crunch of steel and bounced back into the air. Yang continued moving forward, firing another round behind her to strike that much harder. But this one he caught on the edge of his blade.

Adam flew backward and stabbed his sword into the train to keep himself from being knocked off. He spun around, sheathing his sword and vanishing into a blur.

The blade struck Yang's nose faster than she could react, her vision blurring as blood covered her eyes. Several more blows rained down upon her from every angle. The blade bit into her with each hit. Never enough to cripple, despite his best efforts, but more than enough to hurt. Yang tried to follow, striking wherever he was when his own blows connected, but his speed and reach kept him safe from each of her attacks.

She ended the onslaught with a powerful stomp. _As her heel hit the roof, the metal warped and rippled outwards. A sphere of force exploded from her, forcing him away._

Yang wiped the blood from her eyes and grinned. He sheathed his blade and spat on the ground, settling into a very familiar stance. It was the attack Blake was afraid to use on her when they sparred, the one that she had supposedly used on the Anathema woman.

In a flash of crimson light, Ruby appeared behind him, her scythe raised. He whirled around and caught the blow with his sword. The red steel flared with light, matching the sigil already glowing on Ruby's brow.

 _The sword slipped down her own, red light of Mars reflecting off the Orichalcum as it pierced her heart. Her most trusted adviser's eyes bored into her own, crimson red orbs that danced with an intensity and passion that she'd never before seen._

Yang held her eyes closed, banishing the memory back where it belonged. That wasn't Ruby, it wasn't her sister.

Ruby jumped back and got ready for another strike. Adam turned towards her, but kept an eye on Yang.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted. Ruby paused and quirked her head to the side. Yang made a fist. "He's mine."

"Got it." Ruby nodded and pointed her scythe behind her. "I'll just clean up here then go after the Anathema."

"Wasn't Blake-" Yang glanced in the direction of the ship her partner had been launched to.

"She got hit by that riddle spell and fell off the ship. I caught her and Weiss is fixing it." Ruby vanished into a cloud of rose petals, reappearing next to Yang and firing her gun towards JNPR. Adam shot at her, but Yang intercepted the bullets.

"Whew, Nora almost got chainsawed. Anyway, she'll be better soon and-"

A screaming falcon of fire interrupted her. It flew, as quick as the blink of an eye, from the sorceress' Bullhead to team JNPR's location. It erupted into a brilliant bonfire, surrounding the big spotlight. A moment later, the train was shrouded in darkness.

"And I'ma go deal with that." Ruby fired a shot and a flash of red light briefly illuminated Adam's movement.

Yang knew what was coming, the lethal strike that could cut through her Aura like a hot knife through butter. And she couldn't even see where he was.

The scream of steel being drawn hit her ears right before she moved. Yang stepped forward, flaring her Aura with power. She needed to keep moving, show no fear. _She needed to be an unstoppable force, an inviolate spirit and body._

Adam's sword slammed into her neck as her Aura flared. Brilliant yellow sparks flew from the point of impact while the sword skidded up her skin, her hair wrapped around it. Yang's hand shot forward while he gaped, grabbing onto his collar.

Yang grinned like a maniac, forcing her Aura into her hair so that it shrouded her face in a golden glow.

"My turn."

* * *

 _Ruby fired herself along the path of maximum violence. The world inverted itself for a moment while she existed in a conceptual space. Then the location collapsed and she spun into four of herself._

The Anathema woman rolled away from her strikes, only getting clipped by the final one. She twisted so much it was inhuman, actually close to in-faunus too. When she finished the movement, her swords were in hand.

Ruby didn't give her any time to respond, pushing forward with her Semblance. Clouds of rose petals rushed around the woman, scattering like leaves in the whirlwind that surrounded the ship and threw off every swing. Of course, the same wind never made the woman slip up, that would make it too easy.

Blades swung and bullets fired whenever Ruby landed, though she wished that more of them were hers. The woman's fire barrier could block Crescent Rose's rounds just like it had Ren's or Blake's. That left Ruby with surprise sweeps following a shot since the woman needed to move to use the barrier. But, stepping into melee left her as open as it did her enemy. For every strike that Ruby landed, she took at least two herself.

Again and again, they swept past each other, Ruby's hits knocking her around the ship, but never off of it. It was still worth it. Every second that the woman wasn't casting spells was an opportunity for her team to take out the other threats. Without any light to see by, they needed all of the time they could get.

Though, when Ruby considered the amount of Aura she'd used so far, she realized her place might be on the train.

She leapt back, firing twice, and turned off her head-light. Her aura was glowing brightly enough that all of the Grimm bugs being gone made it easier to see.

The woman held up a hand, extending most of her fingers. After a moment, Ruby lowered Crescent Rose slightly, pointing the barrel at the woman's shin, and nodded. If this was a trick to cast a spell, her finger was hovering over the trigger.

"Tell me. Do you know what type of being you are?" the woman asked, eyes boring into Ruby's.

"I… What?"

"The sign that you bear, the stars in your eyes, do you know what they mean?"

Ruby considered checking with the future to see where this would take her, but spending your Aura willy nilly in the middle of a fight was a sure way to lose. At the same time, there was no reason to believe that this woman really knew anything beyond just being familiar with Mistral religions.

"I do," Ruby replied slowly. If nothing else, talking took up a lot of time and if she stalled for long enough, Blake would be able to join in. "And I may not know what type of Anathema you are, but it's my job to put an end to you."

The Anathema smiled and said something in a very weird, yet beautiful language. Every word was like a song unto itself. It was… both familiar and utterly alien, like something she might've dreamed about a long time ago.

Ruby snapped a shot off. It was blocked by a wall of flames, not that she expected that to work.

The woman glared at her. "Your education is sorely lacking."

Ruby held her lips tightly closed as the familiar pressure built up around the woman. It was pushed out of the way without a second thought. _Tell me what you know._

She laughed again, slowly, sultrily, like a TV super villain. "You call yourself one who was blessed by Mars and don't even know the language of the gods."

A chill ran down Ruby's spine. How did _she_ know that? The only people who should were team JNPR and the teachers. Was one of them a spy?

"So young, so naive, so foolish." She stepped to the side, banishing one of her swords into a fiery mist. "Do you really think that there aren't people watching your every move?"

"What?" This was a conversation that Ruby really wished that she had Blake or Weiss around for. She was sure the woman was lying, trying to mess with her, but what she was saying made sense. It gave a voice to that little worry in the back of her head.

"Consider just how far you've come and how far you could go if you really pushed yourself." Her eyes glimmered with a gold and orange light that slowly shifted until it flickered with all of the colors of the rainbow.

 _A sense of incredible danger flared. Ruby became four, each firing a shot. Two were blocked by the Anathema's Aura, one missed entirely, but the last one broke through, sinking into the woman's thigh._

But she was too late.

 _The Anathema's eyes were right in front of her. The woman's pained voice was like music to her ears. "You should be careful with your talents. There are many who would… make use of you if given the chance. And they're closer than you think… "_

Ruby was pretty sure one of them was right next to her, but that didn't mean there weren't others.

" _How many people have you told about what you can do? How many of them can remember you clearly? What have they been keeping from you? It must hurt, realizing that you've been lied to. That those who you trusted the most, were the ones who kept the most important pieces of information from you this entire time." The words echoed over the wind. Ruby had wanted to know what was really going on for so long. "They kept you in the dark, lost and alone. Those who you kept closest in your heart never thought of you in the same way."_

Even Yang had forgotten about her.

The woman stepped close, within reach of Crescent Rose. Her guard was down… But Ruby never even considered swinging. " _And for that matter, have you ever thought about why you were chosen? What about you would draw the eye of the most terrifying Goddess, the Maiden of strife and conflict who weaves fate so that millions die? If you are only a tool to those you care about, what would you be to a being that would cause such wanton destruction?"_

Ruby's breath caught in her throat. That was something she'd never considered before. All of the stories about gods giving people power always involved some reason or service.

She laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder and leaned very close. " _There are other options. You could-"_

A black and white blur slammed into the woman hard enough to send her tumbling across the ship. She landed on her feet, blade in her off hand reforming. Blake dashed forward again, weaving through the waves of glass. Her blades slipped over the woman's guard and slammed into her. Blake flickered, appearing behind her and batted her back across the ship in what would have been a perfect setup.

Instead, the woman smashed into Ruby and knocked her over. She landed on her side, still holding onto Crescent Rose.

" _You fool."_ The woman stood as Ruby looked up at her. " _You interrupted such a wonderful conversation."_

"Ruby?" Blake gasped. "Are-are you okay?"

Ruby blinked at her, unable to form the right concepts into thoughts, let alone words.

"What did you do to her?" Blake said through clenched teeth.

 _"Nothing that concerns you. Assuming you stay put."_ The woman's lips curved upward into a smug smile. " _Or shall I let her know what exactly it is that you've been hiding from her?"_

Blake's narrowed to slits.

" _Then don't interrupt me again."_ She pulled Ruby back up while Blake grit her teeth. " _You can see how much of an ally she is, letting us continue talking like this. I certainly wouldn't have let you get hurt all over one little secret."_

Ruby glanced at Blake. She was gripping her sword so hard it was shaking. Her eyes kept flicking toward the train, but she didn't move.

" _I'd worry about what else she might do if I were you. To say nothing of what the blonde would if given half a chance."_

The edges off her eyes teared up. There… there was no way that Yang would ever do something bad to her… was there?

" _Did that hurt? Thinking of her like that."_ The woman practically laughed and leaned closer. " _It won't hurt half as much as it will when you find out about what she's already kept from you."_

Blake's eyes were locked over the edge, the color fading from her face. "No, I can't... I can't let this continue."

" _What was that?"_

"I-I-" Blake stuttered and held her eyes closed. When she reopened then, they were misty, but under the water was a steel that Ruby hadn't seen in a long time. After taking a deep breath, Blake sheathed her blade and took it up in her off hand, not letting go. She didn't drop into any sort of stance; instead, black fire wreathed itself around her sword.

" _She's An-"_ the woman tried to shout, but Blake was faster.

 _The girl was upon her in the blink of an eye, sword catching the side of her head. Blake spun, bringing her sheath up as well, the flames forming a serrated edge around it. The spikes bit into the woman's throat and tore as they passed by. The flames forged themselves into a dark replica of Blake's weapon, pinning the Anathema to the ship by what remained._

Her hands wrapped around it, trying desperately to pull it away.

"I hope you survive the fall so the Grimm can find you." Blake swung again, her blade still covered in the same energy that her sheath had been. She caught the woman's arms just above the elbow.

Ruby'd only seen that look on one person before. The glassy, shocked expression that had been on Weiss when she almost died. Before she could see any more, Blake picked her up.

With a mighty leap, Blake launched them away from the ship. She swung her sword, firing a purple energy wave at an engine. The crescent swept through the wing supporting it, cleanly slicing through the metal and sending the ship into a spiral towards the ground.

* * *

Yang had to give Adam something, he was more dedicated than anyone else she'd ever met. He knew that she was Anathema, one of the unstoppable demons that gave people nightmares and took entire teams of Hunters to safely kill, and he was still trying to fight her by himself. Even after she stopped his best strike cold, he fought on.

In another world, he might've been someone she could get along with. But, he'd threatened her friends' lives and had turned Blake's past into a living hell. Those were not actions she could forgive and this game of theirs had gone on long enough.

The bright red light shining from above them denied him the protection of darkness, which was the only reason why he still stood.

He charged her again, vanishing and appearing on the side. In a motion too quick to see he drew, and she moved.

Yang drew on her Semblance, burning all of the energy he'd given her. She wrapped all of the power around herself and _burned. She slammed elbow and knee together, wreathed in a golden inferno. His blade was caught between them, trapped. Her flames flowed into it, igniting the metal within._

A web of white hot flames ran up the sword as he backed away. Adam swung it wildly, but they burned within the metal itself. "What did you do?"

Yang smiled at him as smugly as she could; this was it, the ultimate proof of how outmatched he was. "Just watch."

When an item was infused with Aura it was almost unbreakable, almost. Only the most conductive materials could become truly invulnerable: Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal, Soulsteel, Adamant, and Jade. Or at least her extra memories told her that. Yang herself was only familiar with Orichalcum and Moonsilver, and thanks to Ruby, she knew that Starmetal existed too.

The fiery cracks continued growing up the Dust-infused sword until they hit the handle. Then, it exploded. The shrapnel dealt the final blow, tearing his Aura and jacket apart. Yang let them bounce off of her.

The nearby fight, which was Weiss against all of the remaining White Fang grunts on their part of the train, quieted down as all of them stared at her.

No wait, they were looking above her.

Yang glanced up just in time to see the flaming engine about to hit the train… The train which was full of Dust. "Crap."

She slid to the side, moving without thinking, and brought her hands together. As she swung them, she channeled her power again, cracking the air with the force of the blow. Her Aura warped the edge and fired the engine away, splintering any tree in its path.

As Blake landed with a completely non-responsive Ruby in her arms, Yang turned to them. "What happened?"

Blake rushed past her, placing her sister in front of Weiss, who immediately starting casting something on Ruby. As soon as Ruby was out of her arms, Blake moved to the side of the train, one hand going to her belly and the other to her neck.

"What happened to-" Yang's question was cut off by the sound of a missile firing from behind her. She spun around just in time to get in the way, catching it on her forearms. A fiery explosion blossomed around her, feeding into her Aura. Yang forced herself to stay in place, her heels digging into the roof beneath her. The metal crunched and tore as the flames wrapped around her, spiraling into her body.

 _The heat inside of her built as the attack fueled her own fire, making her Aura blaze that much harder._ The look in the girl's eyes when she stepped out of the smoke was amazing. It was the Faunus from the club, the one she destroyed before. The girl was leaning out of one of the Bullheads, the barrel of her launcher shaking.

Yang brought her fists up and started firing back, empowering her shots so that they'd fly faster. She'd never be able to land one at this distance without the boost.

* * *

"Ruby, can you hear me?" Weiss waved a hand in front of Ruby's eyes.

"Yes I can." As soon as they landed, Ruby could have done things, but there were more important questions to ask. Like, 'How did Blake do that?' and 'Why didn't she just end the fight like that earlier?'. It was beyond anything she'd seen before, even Uncle Qrow when he was showing off.

"Okay." Weiss stepped back. "You were hit by a spell that makes you incredibly suggestible to whatever the caster says. The ideas that she planted are going to remain until we can prove them false or you come to that conclusion yourself."

"Uh huh." On one hand, the Anathema woman had talked a lot about how suspicious all of her teammates were. On the other, they were all very, very suspicious. She glanced over at Yang, who just took a missile to the face and laughed it off. A direct hit from one of those would've… made Ruby glow.

"She's not listening," Blake cut in, keeping watch on Adam. He was looking very intently at Yang and Weiss, but without a sword he wasn't a threat.

"I'm listening." Ruby kept watching him; he wouldn't be like this is he didn't have some sort of idea. Even if Yang was a potentially dangerous liar, she was still Ruby's sister and as soon as they got back to Beacon they could have their talk.

Blake took a deep breath. "Fine, you don't believe her then."

Ruby would be willing to bet a lot of money that Weiss lied more than the rest of them. She also definitely knew what the spell was, but how did this serve to help Weiss? What did her choice of which words to use mean? Then again, who could she trust about this? Professor Goodwitch knew a lot of sorcery and had seemed like a good person. Maybe she could be okay? But there wa-

 _A sense of overwhelming danger snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. A vortex of horror encircled her sister as an Ice Dust missile was fired._

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, reaching for her. "Look out!"

"Don't worry, I've-" Yang stepped forward as Adam moved. A sword folded out of his arm as he charged her, its blade glowing bright red.

Yang, by virtue of how she'd been firing, got her arm in the way of the decapitation strike. The sword sliced through her Aura, but stopped a little less than halfway through. Moments later, the rocket hit.

Adam's jacket got torn off by the icy needles. and deep cuts appeared all over his skin… except for the prosthetic arm that his new sword extended from. Yang took a direct hit to the chest, the explosion bursting into a wave of ice needles that bounced off of her skin, instantly turning into hot mist from the sparks they threw.

"No," Ruby whispered as the mist was blown away. Her breath caught in her throat, forcing her to gasp for every puff of air.

A golden fire surrounded Yang, a fire that shouldn't have been there. It burned with a powerful, sicky light that raged uncontrollably.

 _Yang spun around, the air around her good fist tearing and igniting as she hit Adam's arm._ The metal exploded on contact, its surface burning as the fire ran up his body.

He screamed as the flames kept rising towards him.

Ruby looked away.

Yang's gauntlets fired twice more and the screaming stopped.

"Y-Yang?" Ruby took a hesitant breath and looked up. The fire was bigger now, stretching several feet into the sky. It's light was painful to look at and overwhelmed Ruby's own.

"I'm sorry, sis."

Yang turned around, tears streamed down her cheeks. The fire slowly changed, a sickly green core emerging from the gold. As it grew, overtaking the gold, black and brass flames rose from the depths. A dark oil dripped down her hair and face, so black that no texture could be made out.

"I'm a monster."


	46. Chapter 7-4

Ruby's breathing quickened.

Yang was Anathema.

Her hands shook as they gripped Crescent Rose that much harder.

Yang was Anathema.

Her finger trembled over the trigger, barrel aimed at the burning swords on Yang's forehead.

Yang was… melting?

 _The dark ooze that had begun running down her hair continued until it coated her completely. Ruby kept her sights on it as cracks of green light started appearing. The light grew brighter and brighter, until the ooze exploded._

A demon stood in the center of the remains. A demon with Yang's face. Her eyes were bright red, like when she was angry. Her hair turned black, a darkness so deep that no light reflected off of it and no texture could be seen. If those were the only changes, then Ruby could've mistaken her for a Yang who took after her mother.

The wings ruined that thought. Black Nevermore wings had exploded from on her back, tearing her jacket to ribbons. Their feathers were slick with blood. If that wasn't proof enough of what she was, her eyes also glowed like those of the Grimm, a mesmerizing trail of light that followed each of her movements.

She was a demon, a demon that had finally revealed her true form. She was right in Ruby's sights, barrel aimed at her evil demon face. If they didn't do something, she was going to kill who knew how many people.

So... why couldn't Ruby just fire? She was a Huntress, this was an Anathema, it was supposed to be easy!

All this time, she'd known that she would have to kill people. Yang had known about it, Weiss seemed to understand, and even Blake came around to the idea. This was their job, their responsibility. It was supposed to be as easy as shooting a Grimm, a Grimm in human form, but… It wasn't fair. The demon was still crying, was still staring at Ruby with an expression that Ruby'd only seen once before.

The demon looked just like their dad did when they got the news that mom died.

There wasn't much that Ruby remembered from so long ago; she was young and barely understood the concept of death, let alone that it could happen to her mom, who had always come back whenever she went away before. However, pain was something she was familiar with even at that age. The lost and hopeless expression on her dad's face, the look of someone who had their entire world torn away from them, stuck with her to this day. Those sad eyes, barely holding back the tears. It had to be a trick, monsters didn't cry.

When was the last time she'd spoken to Yang, the real Yang? How long had this… thing been pretending to be her? How long had she been fooled?

Was this what her dad had felt like back then, his heartbeat slowing while it felt like it was falling out of his chest? Wanting to say something, to scream at the injustice that caused this, but not being able to because of how hard it was to even breath?

The air was hot and dry. Just looking at her, staring into that deadly fire, was painful. It was like looking into the sun. How could she stand being inside of it? That would have surely killed a normal person.

The taste of salt hit Ruby's lips. She held a hand up to her cheeks, her fingers coming away damp. When had she started crying?

She shouldn't be crying. She should be fighting, killing the monster that had stolen her sister away from her. It's what Yang would've wanted, to be avenged.

Instead, Ruby was drowning. Her throat too tight to breath, her body too tense to move. She opened her mouth, but no air entered her lungs. And despite the voice in the back of her head screaming at her that she needed to act, to end the evil that had presented itself to her, Ruby found herself unable to listen to it.

She lost track of time. How long had they been standing there, staring at each other? Was it seconds or was it hours? As the moments ticked by, she'd slowly become able to move again. Crescent Rose had been lowered, not pointed away, no longer aiming for a kill shot.

The sudden explosions snapped her back to reality.

A grenade hit the demon's back and exploded into a pink cloud. She didn't move, not a single flinch. Three more fell onto the train, too far away to do anything.

The demon looked over her shoulder, then back to Ruby. She beat her wings once, twice, three times, and then leapt to the sky, dodging another hail of grenades. She clumsily climbed, firing Dust shots from Ember Celica to push herself higher up. When she stabilized, still frantically flapping her wings at times, she started firing at the nearest Bullhead. Green flames surrounded rounds that were supposed to be red. When they struck the hull, green cracks appeared in the metal, growing outward like roots.

Ruby glanced behind her, to Blake and Weiss. They were… calm, cold. For Weiss, that made sense, she always wore a mask. The only hint of Blake's true feelings were in her eyes. The corners of her eyes were tight and her pupils wide. This wasn't shock, it wasn't surprise, it was something else.

They knew… They've known all along. This is what they were keeping secret.

"Blake," Ruby said, breathless. "Yang always said that you were a better fighter than she was."

Blake hesitated, stealing a glance at Weiss. "She did."

"And…" Ruby looked back at the demon.

She flew next to the Bullhead and kicked it. The ringing of the metal was so loud it drowned out everything else, as the vehicle was launched at the other one still in the air. The cracks had expanded to cover the entire surface.

When the two airships collided, the first one exploded, taking the second Bullhead with it.

"And," Ruby continued. "Can you still do it? Could you still beat that thing?"

Blake grimaced and held her lips tightly shut. She waited for several seconds before responding, "P-Probably."

Ruby leveled Crescent Rose at her. "Then what are you?"

Blake looked away, slinking down like she was trying to disappear into her own shadow.

"It takes entire teams to bring down an Anathema that isn't trained." Ruby wiped her face with her sleeve, the tears could ruin her aim. "I don't think that even Professor Ozpin could win against one that's been at Beacon this long by himself."

"I-" Blake began.

Ruby fingered the side of her trigger. "The only way you could possibly do that is… Is if you're one too."

"What do you think you're doing?" Weiss cut her off with a snarl stepping between them, wincing when the shot fired, bullet passing between her ponytail and ear.

"Don't do that! I almost shot you!" Ruby barely got Crescent Rose up just fast enough to avoid hitting either of them.

"My Aura's fine." Weiss stood between them.

Ruby lowered her barrel to the side so that if Weiss suddenly made her jump it wouldn't cause a problem. "That's besides the point."

"What were you going to do then, shoot Blake?" Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"She's dangerou-"

"That makes it alright to murder her?"

"That's not what I-"

"Then what is it?" Weiss crossed her arms. "Do you just want to betray her trust, to make her cry too?"

"I didn't-"

"You very well did." Weiss didn't let her get a word in. "You saw how hurt Yang was by your reaction."

"That's not Yang, it's-"

Weiss stepped forward and swung her free hand, the back of it clapped against Ruby's cheek. But, she had more than enough aura to stop the slap from hurting.

"Don't you dare say that again." Weiss' mask broke. Her entire body shook while she continued stepping forward. "Do you have any idea how terrified Yang was of you finding out? Not our professors, not team JNPR, just you."

"That thing is not my sister. It's a monster, a demon!" Ruby shook her head. "How can you even think about trusting it?"

"Because she isn't a monster. She just thinks she's one." Weiss took a deep breath with her eyes closed. "For your, and her, entire life, you both have been taught that the Anathema are the most dangerous foes that a Hunter might face. That they're evil creatures that need to be killed before they wipe out humanity."

Ruby nodded.

"Blake." Weiss opened her eyes and glanced to the side. "Is the sorceress dead?"

Blake hesitated, unable to look as Weiss. " She's as good as dead."

"Did you kill her?"

"I pinned her to a falling ship without arms."

"Did you kill her?" Weiss asked again, spacing out each word.

"I… No, I couldn't."

"Why not? She's a threat to all of us and would have killed you if given the chance?"

"I couldn't, it's not right."

Weiss turned back to Ruby. "Would the ultimate evil say that?"

Ruby pouted, there was a point there, but the Anathema were known to be sneaky. "She could be faking it and waiting for the right moment to turn on us."

Blake shrunk back further, almost disappearing behind Weiss.

"Stop acting like a complete moron." Weiss hissed between her teeth. "Why would she bother keeping up an act? The only way she and Yang can get out of this would be to kill not only you, but also team JNPR and every single person on the train. If either of them really were evil, then you'd already be dead."

 _They were just waiting for the right moment._

"Weiss." Blake grabbed hold of Weiss and pulled her back. "You're not helping."

Weiss took a deep breath while watching Blake carefully, then slowly exhaled. "Very well. If you want proof, then turn around."

Ruby watched their faces, normally Blake would've twinged from Weiss lying about something by now. That meant she was telling the truth. Ruby glanced toward the demon, but made sure to keep both of Blake and Weiss in her peripheral vision, just in case.

No wait, it wasn't a fight, it was a slaughter. The demon dove into the remaining White Fang members surrounding team JNPR. Each of its blows turned one of them into a screaming missile. Their bodies ignited with green fire and blew through the rest of their ranks, smashing their comrades off of the train.

All the while, Ren and Nora wildly fired at it, most of their shots going wide. Pyrrha took aim and connected with hers, but they didn't have any effect. Jaune swung his sword wildly, throwing waves of fire that did nothing except feed the demon's Aura.

It continued pressing forward, destroying everything that came near, until it reached the car next to JNPR's.

Ruby raised Crescent Rose and took aim. She needed to stop it before it hurt them.

" _Don't!"_ Weiss snapped. _A vision of her partner, bleeding out, appeared before Ruby. In a blink, Weiss's body was replaced with Yang's. She reached a hand toward Ruby and-_

The vision vanished almost as soon as it appeared. Ruby's temples exploded with pain, but she pushed it down, there were more important things.

Nora launched herself forward, flying on a collision course with the demon. Time seemed to slow while Ruby raised Crescent Rose as quickly as she could. The hammer came down on the demon, but it just spun away from it. It swept down, kicking off of the train while it barreled through more White Fang, flying over top of Ren with another beat of its wings. His bullets bounced off harmlessly.

When it neared Pyrrha, the girl hesitated. She'd switched her weapon to spear form and pulled her shield free, but she didn't attack, instead she backpedaled until she was side by side with Jaune. The demon passed both of them by while it continued beating their enemies down.

"I don't care if you don't believe me," Weiss said slowly. Blake flinched, that was the first lie. "But, if you're going to question everyone, why not start with the people who told you about the Anathema?"

Ruby locked eyes with her.

"There are more myths about the Anathema than actual knowledge. How can you be sure that what you were taught is correct?"

"Yang wouldn't become a demon."

"What makes you think it was a choice? Did you choose to gain your blessing?"

"I…. that's different!"

"Is it really?" Weiss arched an eyebrow. "How do you know a demon didn't simply stick power into Yang?"

"That's not how demon's work! If a normal demon show'd up it'd just get eaten by Grimm bugs and never have a chance to give anyone anything.""

Weiss gave her a speechless look.

Blake turned to Weiss, then to the rampaging demon, then back to Ruby with a puzzled look on her face.

"Regardless of your own theories," Weiss said. "You're completely ignorant of how or why this may have happened and making rash assumptions about your own sister."

"It's not-" Ruby blocked the slap this time.

 _Weiss leaned forward, eyes glimmering in the red light that Ruby gave off. Her lip curled up just far enough to reveal the points of her teeth while she somehow managed to loom the younger girl despite them being the same height. Ruby's objection was caught of the tip of her tongue, unable to be said as the terror of fighting back against Weiss overrode all other feelings._

"Ruby Rose, if there's a single concept that I'm going to force into your inconsiderate head, it will be this." _She growled, her voice echoing between Ruby's ears._ "The girl flying around is your sister Yang, the same person that you've known your entire life. The way you're acting right now would irreparably break her heart if she were to overhear it and I am not going to let that happen. _You are going to call her by her name and stop this idiotic nonsense about her no longer being the same person._ "

The aura of fear vanished abruptly as Weiss stepped back. She was a normal girl again, but her words lingered. Ruby glanced over to Yang, she'd almost cleared the train of enemies.

"Weiss." Ruby panted. "What are you?"

"Someone whose been chosen by a god." Weiss smirked. " _Just like you."_

Two Anathema and two people blessed by gods were up on the same team. That seemed incredibly unlikely. But, what other options were there? Three Anathema? That, while slightly more plausible, was still a ridiculous concept.

Ruby opened her ears to the sounds of the world. Blake's Aura was still wrapped up in many different layers of black and purple which destroyed all other energy that came near it; whereas Weiss' was so unremarkable and bland that it was unusual in and of itself. Especially considering how it wasn't like that when Ruby first listened to it. It had been a brilliant… white? She was pretty sure it had been white. None of the Anathema were white… but none of them were green either.

Yang moved again, drawing Ruby's attention. She flew above team JNPR, casually ignoring Pyrrha's shots. She tore her jacket free, the wings had already ruined it, and wiped her face off. She looked over the train, eyes locking onto the fallen bodies and burning metal. A field of slaughter brought about by her own hands.

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, shoulders tensing. She fell slightly, then flapped harder. When Yang opened her eyes, they briefly glistened, then her own fire burned the tears away. She looked at each of them, the other members of team RWBY, holding her gaze for a few second.

Ruby couldn't return it.

She dropped her head and closed her eyes, trying to ignore how many people her sister had just killed. Adam was a monster, the Anathema woman had been as well, but the Faunus who just wanted a better life didn't deserve that.

Ruby fell to her knees and sobbed, each quick breath making her body heave.

She looked back up to see the green fire vanish into the trees.

Blake pulled Weiss into a kiss, when she stepped back, Ruby could see that she was crying too. "I'm sorry, but she needs me more than you do right now."

Weiss touched her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes. Blake took a step back, and crouched down. She launched herself up with a leap that took her far over the treetops. She kicked off of the tips of the trees, flying after Yang in her own way.

Ruby looked at Weiss, but her partner wasn't paying any attention to her. She was solely focused on the spot where Yang and Blake had vanished from sight.

Ruby's body was too heavy to hold up any more. She hit the train hard, but didn't care. She wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere, but here. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare and curl up with her sister the way she used to. She wanted to cry.

But she had no tears left.


	47. Chapter 7-i

An enormous passage stretched until the beams of their lights faded into the shadows. Carved pillars as wide as an Ursa's shoulders held up the brick halls, the slight sheen of infused Earth Dust visible on the surface each brick.

Glynda's eyes darted back and forth, seeking any signs of the Grimm. Many different varieties sought out the darkness underground and waiting for any too careless to find them. Typically, the types that would fit within this area would not be a danger to three highly skilled Hunters, but the techniques and technology they were currently using would make certain species much more threatening than they would normally be. Of course, assuming those techniques would continue to function as they had, they wouldn't need to worry about a fight.

She took up the rear of their formation, with Professor Ozpin in the lead. He moved with great care, stepping awkwardly to avoid the tiles with a groove carved into the corner.

"Several traps were still active when the ruin was first discovered. The power has since failed, but we don't know which are still mechanically primed," Ozpin whispered.

"How long ago was that?" James had his pistol in one hand and light in the other.

"Before my time." Ozpin stopped, glanced down, then leapt three tiles forward. "My father brought me here when he felt I was ready."

Glynda and James both mimicked the motion, along with everything else he did. They slowly advanced through the dark as a group. The only sound was that of their own footsteps. They passed through many thresholds, each of which led to a more impressive room than the last. It began with the bricks becoming carved. Soon enough those carvings were replaced with precious metals being placed inside of the grooves.

Their target was in an alcove in the final room. It was a statue of a young woman, her hand reaching forward. An enormous emerald was embedded in the center of her palm, but that paled in comparison to how valuable the rest of the statue might be. If Glynda was correct, it appeared to be made of Fire Dust infused stone embossed with more Orichalcum than they had at Beacon.

Behind her, the wall was covered in ornate carvings and ancient words. It was the language of sorcery, something not spoken due to how much meaning had been lost.

Glynda adjusted her glasses and read off the first series of symbols aloud. When the sentence turned out nonsensical, she started from the other side. "Those who seek knowledge shall kneel before the divine one. The worthy shall receive her wisdom."

"This ruin was once the home of a particularly devout cult who lacked an understanding about many aspects of Aura. All that you need to do is press your forehead to the gem and focus your Aura into it." Ozpin stood by, hands folded in front of him.

Glynda and James looked at each other, then nodded. She stepped forward before he did, keeling down so that the hand was right in front of her face.

 _When she touched the gem to her forehead, a shock ran through her. As she pushed her Aura forward, the world went dark. She could feel the spell taking effect, a very subtle tinge in the air that made a shiver run down her spine._

The light came back as she opened her eyes. She was standing in front of a very ornate window, looking directly at a woman who looked identical to the statue. She was backlit by a half moon… A half moon that was not fragmented in the slightest.

The woman was striking in a way that Glynda had never considered another person being: flawless skin, perfect poise, and a face that celebrities would kill for. Her eyes were the most transfixing part of her. They were a deep red that speckled with motes of light, just like Miss Rose's.

"Are you sure about this?" A deep voice sounded from the side.

Glynda wanted to turn, but she couldn't. It was likely a limitation of the spell. A moment later, a Faunus man stepped into the window and laid his hands on the woman's shoulders. If the woman was impressive, he was so much more. He was inhumanly perfect, without a single aspect that could be criticized.

Normally, Glynda would have cringed at the thought of a man who hadn't shaved that day, but something about him had a rugged charm the likes of which she'd heard of people appreciating before. And his eyes, the slitted green of a reptile, danced with ferocity and danger, even though he was obviously being comforting.

Of course, the pair were dressed in an amount of Aura conductive metal that would make even the most lavish kings faint at the expense. The man wore a full suit of Moonsilver armor, engraved with the images of a great serpent encircling a mountain. The women's robes appeared to be woven entirely of Starmetal, threads polished to the point that a small beam of light turned into a rainbow of different colors. Both had a distinctly South Mistral-like style, but Glynda doubted that this was where this vision came from.

The woman turned to the man, and with her Glynda's viewpoint. She wasn't standing in a window, it was a mirror. Glynda was seeing through the woman's eyes.

"I think it is vital that a record exist, no matter the result of our actions," the woman said softly. "Besides, you will remember it and I'll be able to view my speech with the emerald… Assuming that I live through the night."

"I won't let them do anything to you."

"All lives must come to an end eventually, especially when they step upon the battlefield. If this is my final fight, then it will be a worthy one."

"Mmh." He nodded.

The woman turned back to the mirror and stared into her own eyes. "To whoever is viewing this memory, I wish you a good day and dearly hope that this message will only be a footnote in the grand history that shall be your soul's life. For tonight, an Age will come to an end, no matter who is victorious."

"The Chosen of the Sun, the greatest among us, have taken a path that would surely lead all of Creation to ruin. Is it they who have been blessed with rulership, they who have allowed their desires to rule their own actions, and they who have betrayed the trust placed in them." The man took over, a fire burning in his tone. "And too many of my own brethren have rolled over for them, or worse, fallen to their own baser instincts and become just as depraved as their mates."

"For some time, we [_]-"

The woman's lips moved as a blur, her words garbled as if she were underwater. Glynda couldn't make out what she might've said.

"-have watched, worried, and argued about what can be done to prevent those who barely understand the fabric of reality from tearing it apart. The debates over what should occur have been long and furious, but in the end, our hands were forced." With a wave of her hand, the woman conjured an image of a deep pit. "The Deliberative, over the objection of a number of senior [_] and the more sensible Solars, approved a new Great Working, larger in scope than any previously attempted. The proof of its potential was undertaken by a relatively small team and on the day when it was completed, the number of errors in the Loom quintupled. These have only gotten worse because Fate was not designed to accommodate so many sorcerers."

"This new project is all but guaranteed to be even worse, but they won't be swayed by words alone." The man clenched a fist and snarled. "The same group that altered many dragon lines with the power of the Yozi and the energy of the Wyld, unleashing a horde of corrupted elementals for their 'realistic war simulation' has been pushing for the timeline to be accelerated. They killed millions of mortals, many not even their own people, and the rest cheer their actions as proof of how we never need to fear being threatened again. As if we needed any other dangers than them."

He closed his eyes and looked down. The woman squeezed his hand. "My eyes were opened to how far we've fallen when that monstrous idea took three of my grandchildren and the remainder cheered for their sacrifice, seduced into compliance without any ability to resist."

Glynda would never have expected him to be old. If it wasn't for his bearing, she'd have expected mid twenties at the oldest.

"Their souls are guaranteed to be potent in their next life," the woman said with a note of bittersweet hope.

"For what that's worth."

She nodded and looked back at the mirror. "Regardless of the details of specific events or crimes, the overall trend has continued in this direction. They may not all be guilty of committing atrocities themselves, but the majority have proven unwilling to check the worst among them. We [_] lack the numbers to truly make a difference and with each passing year, the risk of one of them finally pushing too far grows. Thus, we have enacted a great plan to dispose of them all at once."

"Their actions have been noted by more than just their peers. Every disgruntled or disobedient soldier, every spy or manager who has been abused, each of them who would fight against them has been brought on as well. And if all goes according to plan, the Solars' own arrogance will cause them to blame each other when the first strike lands."

The woman fingered the pommel of a sword that rested on her belt. "The assault will begin tonight. If we are successful, then the world will remain whole for quite some time. If we fail, then I doubt we'll ever be allowed this much autonomy again and I can only hope that you who are viewing this memory have not been indoctrinated by their lies. They may claim to be in control, but it is only a matter of time before one grows strong enough to threaten the fabric of Creation and is mad enough to do so."

 _The woman closed her eyes and the world became black once more._

Glynda opened her eyes with a gasp, almost falling backward. It took several breaths for her to center herself and send all feeling away.

"How long ago was that?" She stared at the statue, the face of the person who looked so familiar.

Ozpin sighed as James stepped forward. "I do not know and in as many years as I've prayed for the knowledge to be granted, no one has answered."

"Do you think they succeeded?"

"I doubt that they failed." Professor Ozpin watched James as he moved his head forward. "But I don't know if the world we live in could be called a success."

* * *

James watched the clouds in the evening sun as they approached Beacon. That had been a lot to process. The Anathema had once been the rulers of the world, and they'd almost destroyed it. Or at least, the man and woman in that memory believed that they would have.

How much power could they command if a single one could do such a thing?

"Oz." He rolled his questions over in his mind. "How long have you known about this?"

"Quite some time." Ozpin kept his eyes forward.

"And who else have you showed that to?"

"Only two people who are still alive." He sighed." Qrow and Raven Branwen."

"What?" James shouted. Qrow made sense, Ozpin trusted the man more than anyone else. "Why would you bring her of all people there?"

"It wasn't by choice. She followed behind when Qrow and I left."

James grit his teeth; it must have been her Semblance. If Raven would just cooperate with them, there was so much that could be done.

"She broke from us a month after she saw that memory." Ozpin's voice strained ever so slightly. "It is why she believes that the Anathema should be used against the Grimm."

James looked to the side. "She may not be as wrong as I had thought."

"James!" Glynda gasped. "How could you even think about that?"

"Because if they can really destroy the entire world, then the Grimm should be child's-play." James closed his eyes and thought of all of the potential. "We already know that sun-aspected techniques are particularly potent against them. One of the golden Anathema… no wait, Solar, that was the word. One of them may even be able to kill Salem."

"She returned the last time someone killed her," Ozpin said with a strained tone.

"Has an Anathema ever been the one to do it?"

Ozpin remained silent.

"They may be the key to our salvation."

"They would be our jailers, trapping us with their words."

"And the Grimm aren't?" James glared at a Nevermore, lazily gliding below them. "With that army she could destroy us at any time."

"The Grimm only seek our destruction, not our submission." Ozpin glanced over his shoulder. "It is better to die as ourselves than to live as slaves."

James met his eyes. "It would be better to find one who is willing to serve."

"Do you realize what you're suggesting?"

"Gentlemen!" Glynda snapped. "We can have this debate when we're back at Beacon."

James huffed and took a deep breath. "It was only a thought. One that I would suspect both of you have had before."

"I will not allow Vale to descend into tyranny again," Ozpin said without the edge of anger.

"Then what are your plans for that girl? The one with the same eyes as the woman in the memory?"

"Miss Rose? She's going to become a phenomenal Huntress and has already aided both Glynda and Bartholomew."

"A fifteen year old helped two of Beacon's top researchers? What if she winds up as persuasive as the other Anathema?"

Glynda rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Miss Rose isn't Anathema. She's the same as the woman who warned us and led a fight against them."

"And the man then?" James crossed his arms. "If I'm not mistaken, he was likely one of the silver Anathema."

"By his own words, that would make him the exception that proves the rule," Ozpin said.

James couldn't exactly argue with that. He needed a different tactic. "Oz, all that I'm asking is that if you find one who is reasonable, consider making use of them. We've gained more factual knowledge about how they function in the past few months than in several years because of having to wait for confirmation with someone who happened to be loyal."

After a long silence, Ozpin responded. "The last time a kind Anathema snuck into a Vale combat school, she had most of the staff practically worshiping her. I doubt the girl was actively malicious, but it still happened. And if you make an exception once, then the door has been opened for the next one to convince you again."

"There's a large difference between letting someone like that remain until no one would target them and taking advantage of an incredible warrior or researcher. Especially when they know that you will act as soon as they step out of line."

"Because it's so easy to defeat an Anathema trained in combat." Glynda narrowed her eyes at James. "Listen to yourself, I'd almost suspect that Atlas leadership has been infiltrated."

"Leadership is always the first target." James thought about the differences defenses that Atlas had put into place. "That is why the bureaucracy moves as slowly as it does and someone must serve for a significant amount of time before they're allowed to command. If one of my top Specialists was trained in Vale, I have no doubt that she'd be the primary Huntress of an outlying city. However, due to her age, she's only in command of a platoon of soldiers, not other Specialists."

James watched their reactions for a moment, then sighed, "I suppose the culture is too different in Vale."

"Yes, it is," Ozpin said. "Need I remind you that we fought a war to prevent such restrictions on individuality from being forced on people?"

"Yes, you proved very well that we had gone too far in suppressing people's options." James nodded. "But don't you think it's possible that the opposite could be true as well? Due to the discipline of our regular soldiers, we can protect our borders with fewer Specialists than Vale has Hunters, letting those with powerful Auras research instead of fighting directly."

"The same research that appears to primarily produce weapons and other techniques of war. When was the last time Atlas R&D came out with a device that only had peaceful applications?"

"We are at war, whether the people know it or not. There can be no true peace until the Grimm are no more."

"James," Glynda cut in. "Assume that you've found your loyal warrior. You train them to the point where they can defeat Salem single handedly. And somehow, this hasn't resulted in more slipping through. How would you prevent them from taking over Atlas?"

"According to that memory, the Anathema were defeated at the height of their power. If we fire enough bullets and drop enough bombs, one will eventually strike home."

"That could easily kill tens of thousands."

"So it might, but it would also allow millions more to live without fear of the Grimm." He closed his eyes. "If you're worried, this isn't an idea that I would ever consider putting into action until we find the missing Maidens. Even then, it may be decades before another person with the correct temperament and a lack of worrying traits appears."

"That does bring me some relief, however-" Ozpin cut himself off as the landing pad came into view. Someone was standing at attention on it.

"Is something wrong?" James asked.

"Bartholomew is waiting for us... patiently," Ozpin continued. "Normally he would be distracted by something, but he's standing completely still."

As they landed James watched Doctor Oobleck. His shirt was tucked in, his tie tight, and and his hands were clasped behind his back. It was positively strange compared to how the man normally was.

"Professor Ozpin," he said, stepping up immediately. "We have a problem. Or, to be more accurate, we have between one and five problems depending on how you group them together."

"What happened?"

"Our missing students have returned… Without Miss Xiao-Long or Miss Belladonna." He paused. "There are a number of reports that you need to review because it appears that our current theory was most likely correct and also that we have a new type of Anathema on our hands. The council has also contacted us and expects an answer regarding this as soon as possible."


	48. Chapter 8-1

Weiss woke up slowly, her scroll ringing in the background. She'd wrapped herself up as tightly as she could the previous night, but even with her thickest blankets surrounding her, she was still freezing.

How had she gotten so used to sharing a bed with someone so quickly? A month ago, a regular hug would've felt uncomfortable.

It was probably Yang's fault, though Ruby had done her best to get Weiss used to it as well. She'd never felt that connected to anyone besides her sister, and even then, there was still a gulf.

Weiss sighed and unbundled herself so she could turn her scroll off. "Sorry about letting it go-"

It was almost nine. Ruby's cloak was missing from its hanger. Of course her partner had already left. She'd been gone before Weiss woke up yesterday too. Hopefully Ruby had gone to her counseling session, but Weiss wasn't going to hold her breath about it.

She swung out of bed and looked around the room. Blake and Yang's beds were just like they had been when they left. The last book Blake had been reading still sat next to her pillow, bookmark haphazardly sticking out of it. Maybe Weiss could read it to Blake when she figured out how to contact them, like the stories Winter used to read to her. Blake hated putting down a book before she finished it.

A vision of Blake and Yang, struggling in the wild, brought itself to the forefront of her mind. What were they doing now? Had they managed to find food and water? Blake should have been able to sneak into a village to get some, but there was no guarantee that they would find one.

Weiss pulled herself back to reality by checking on her partner. Ruby's bed was, if anything, worse. She'd piled her blankets and sheets against the wall. On a normal week, Weiss would bring this up the next time they saw each other, but there were far more important topics to talk to her about whenever that encounter happened.

She looked away with a sigh and stepped into the bathroom to freshen up. She couldn't waste this much time getting caught up in missing them when there was still work to be done.

After brushing her teeth, Weiss closed her eyes and focused on her Aura. No, her Essence. She swirled it around herself, allowing it to infuse her body and mind the same way she did every morning. Using her Essence in this manner had become second nature, no different from combing her hair.

 _Weiss opened her eyes and her thoughts separated, each track going over different plans and possibilities. Her memory was perfect and with it, all of her past thoughts and actions there for her to look over again. And the web of contingencies too complex and interwoven to ever explain with words straightened itself out to become as obvious as night and day._

Shortly after she Exalted she had found the limit of how far she could push herself, all within the safety of her home. Her control had grown since then, but not by enough. Right now she needed to push away her frustration and grief, to let it sit away from her actions so that she could find a method of saving Blake, Yang, and Ruby from themselves.

 _She let the energy flow outward, brushing up against the line, and when it threatened to overflow, she wrapped another layer around and made it flow back into itself. It was just like before, when she first learned how to hide objects._

 _Closer, closer. A sliver pushed through, a flash of light, but she was still alone, still safe._

Weiss growled under her breath. She still couldn't do it. So much of her potential was still outside of her grasp.

She placed her toothbrush back, idly noting that Ruby's was dry. That was another item to add to the ever growing list of problems.

If only she was like Ruby and could freely make use of her power. Or even Yang, who had a non-traditional color. No, she had to be careful and stay well within her limits. Otherwise, what could she actually do to improve the world?

Someone knocked on the door, two quick raps.

"One moment," Weiss called out and quickly began getting dressed. When she only had the jacket left, she spoke again, "It's unlocked."

Coco Adel opened the door, which was moderately unexpected. She nodded at Weiss. "Schnee."

"Adel." Weiss returned the nod with a soft smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Just thought I'd check in on you, considering everything that happened."

"Thank you." Weiss opened a jewelry box on her dresser and pulled out the pin that Coco had given her before, the flower that signified that someone had been investigated and hurt. She pinned it to her lapel and put the jacket on.

"Finally wearing it?"

"It feels like the right time."

"The only people who would accuse you now are idiots."

"Mmh." Weiss nodded. That wouldn't stop them of making a fuss about her though. The knowledge that she had failed to attack Blake or Yang had filtered out. Thankfully, most people had some degree of decency and compassion. Also, the press were still banned from most of the campus.

"Seriously though. Weiss, how are you doing?" Coco let her sunglasses fall down so Weiss could see her eyes. They shimmered with concern and more doubt than Weiss had ever expected.

"I'm," Weiss paused for a moment, "still processing it.."

"Processing it… there's not much to..." Coco looked down and shook her head. "Weiss, I know that you thought you had feelings for them, but were those really your feelings?"

Had this conversation happened not even two minutes ago, Weiss would not have been able to keep herself under control. Instead, she pushed the anger away, focusing it on planning the next argument she would have with Ruby about the Anathema. "They were my feelings."

"Are they? The Anathema are seductive and, well… There were a lot of people that Yang went out with and…"

"Stop," Weiss said with as little edge as she could manage. She knew what Yang's seduction ability felt like and those feelings were there even without it being active. "I know myself well enough to say that wasn't the case. However, I appreciate that you're worried for me."

Coco sighed, "Listen, the group, me and the other survivors, we were going to have an emergency meeting because of"—Coco waved her hand in a circle—"all of this. I think you should come so that we can discuss it, together."

Weiss put on a show of considering, though she already knew what her answer would be.

Coco continued after waiting for a moment, "A lot of us knew them and it's hurt… well… everyone, but you and your partner most of all. She's welcome to come too."

Weiss took a breath and nodded. "I think that would be good and am happy to come, but I'm not sure if Ruby will. She's been avoiding most people."

"Velvet ran into her yesterday. She said that Ruby looked haunted."

"She did?"

"According to Velvet, she was wandering aimlessly around the courtyard at midnight. She had her hood pulled up as she stared at the sky, almost walking into a bench in the process."

That was worse than Weiss had thought. She glanced back at the bed, Ruby's bunk slowly swaying back and forth. Had Ruby even come back last night?

"I'll need to speak with her about that when I next see her." Weiss turned back to Coco.

"Doesn't she live with you?"

"She's been avoiding everyone, but especially me."

Coco raised an eyebrow.

"I may have laid into her rather hard, when it happened." Weiss sighed. Blake had been right; she went too far. "I can't exactly blame her for not wanting to be around me right now."

"Who does she think she is? Your girlfriends were Anathema and she gets mad at you for how you reacted?"

"Yang's her sister."

"Oh, never mind. That's completely understandable." Coco rubbed her forehead. "This is a disaster."

"Yes, it is," Weiss agreed, though Coco didn't know the half of it.

"If she's that mad at you, have you tried apologizing?"

"No."

"Why not? It might help."

"It wouldn't be sincere." Weiss had no idea if Ruby had developed a technique like the one Blake had used, but being caught in a lie like that would end any chance she had of convincing Ruby to trust her again. "My being deceptive before is one of the reasons why Ruby's so angry and I don't want to lose her too."

Coco patted her shoulder. "We'll figure something out."

Weiss thought through several of her plans. There were a lot of options for what she could do next.

* * *

Bartholomew opened the door to his lab with Peter behind him. He hesitated at the sight of glittering metal. "That's odd, I could've sworn I turned the lights off when I left."

"Maybe a Ghiest has possessed your lab?" Peter brandished his weapon as he closed the door behind him, shaking it at the lights. "Away with you, foul beast!"

Bartholomew chuckled and drew his thermos, igniting the tip. "We banish you back to the realm from whence you came!"

Peter doubled over with deep, echoing guffaws. Bartholomew quickly joined him, leaning on a table to keep himself up. They both laughed to the point where they were gasping.

"Ahhh," Bartholomew sighed. "I needed that."

"We both did, we both did." Peter wiped his eyes and leaned his weapon against the wall. "So where is this gauntlet that you wanted me to try on?"

"Right this way." He dashed over to the main work bench. It was incredibly well organized now. The armor pieces were stacked in one corner with the most important tool for working on each wedged between them. The gauntlet he was looking for was missing, probably on one of the other tables, he'd ask Ruby where she left it the next time he saw her. However, it's pair would work just as well.

"This is one of the pieces of armor that Ruby's been helping me with." He rolled a sleeve up and connected the leads from the Dust Furnace mark zero point eight. "We finally got somewhere with reactivating it."

"Hmm." Peter leaned over and peered at it. "What does it do?"

"It projects a field of damaging energy and can fire it as a very potent energy blast." With the furnace active, the gauntlet began rapidly heating up and draining his Aura.

"Oh? Just how potent are we talking?"

Bartholomew wiped the sweat from his brow and pointed at the side of the room. Four sheets of increasingly durable metal were set side by side. All of them, save the last, had a hole smashed through the middle. "Those were the results of Ruby's augmented punch."

Peter's eyes went wide. "Is that- She damaged a sheet of Orichalcum that much with a single punch?"

The final sheet was pure Orichalcum. While it was still solid, a deep groove had been worn into it where the field had connected.

"Y-yes, she did." Bartholomew's voice was shaky as golden sparks began firing from the joints of the gauntlet. They grew stronger and brighter, until a golden field briefly flickered into existence. Then it winked out as his Aura broke.

"Unfortunately," he said, stopping to pant, "my Aura isn't quite strong enough to actually power it, even with the furnace running at maximum."

"And her's is?"

"Indeed." He slid it off and wiped his forehead again. Unfortunately, his sleeve was so soaked, it didn't help. "I was quite surprised when it functioned on her first try."

"Normally that would be grounds for an immediate investigation. A student her age with an Aura that strong." Peter shook his head. "But, we now have three senior Hunters vouching for her being safe."

"Words cannot express how relieved I am that Ruby isn't Anathema. Without her insights, this project may have taken years to complete." Bartholomew handed the gauntlet over. "If she ever wants to retire from being a Huntress, she'd have a promising future as an engineer."

"Given who her partner is, that may be very possible."

"Assuming this whole business doesn't prove to be too much for her, that is."

"Two of them." Peter tossed his jacket on the table and rolled his sleeve up. "There were two of them. When Miss Schnee passed hers, despite all evidence to the contrary, it gave me hope, hope that instead we really had that many talented youths."

"Are you going to be taking part in the hunt?"

"I probably know how they fight better than anyone, except for Glynda, along with the forest's terrain." He put the gauntlet on and held it out. "How do I make it work?"

"You haven't said whether or not you'll be there." Bartholomew flicked the furnace on. Peter shivered.

"I shall go wherever Professor Ozpin asks me to. If he wants me to fight, then I fight. If he wants me to stay here and make sure the others are as prepared as possible, then here I shall be." Peter shook his hand as the sparks began appearing. "Ho ho! Here we go."

He stepped over to the sheets of metal and moved into a boxer's stance. As the aura of energy fired into existence, he threw a jab. But, the energy died out before his fist connected.

"Blast." Peter tapped it again, rapping metal against metal. "Well, there goes that possibility."

"Indeed, unfortunately, we need a great deal of power to make it function and only one person's been able to provide it."

"Hmm," Peter held it up near one of the other pieces. "What if we mounted it on a tank? Doesn't Atlas have those giant robot walkers?"

"You'd still need a powerful Aura to make it function I'm afraid. And I doubt that even Atlas will figure out how to give a robot a soul."

"A shame, driving into battle with one of these would allow us to slay those demons with far less risk of human life than-"

Bartholomew cut him off with a gasp. A fallen soldering iron had lit the side table on fire!

"Oh, no, no, no!" He dashed past the open door and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the entrance. Those flames were too close to the other gauntlet!

* * *

[Infiltration Protocols Activated]

Penny giggled to herself. Technically this was an exfiltration, but her heads-up-display didn't recognize that. General Ironwood was stuck in a very important meeting and her father had told her that she wasn't to leave the suite they'd been staying at in Beacon without him. So of course she had to find a way out. That was what teenagers did according to some of the movies she had access to and many of the ones she wasn't supposed to. The only question was, how?

Her father was in the room next door, snoring loudly. There were also two Atlas soldiers in the living room. From the sounds of it, one was sitting on a couch and the other was probably near the front door. That left the window as her only path to freedom.

It was locked and alarmed, but neither of those would be a problem thanks to everything she'd learned… and downloaded… Mostly downloaded. There were an enormous number of technical documents that might eventually be useful in the Atlas databases. The security system of a neighboring combat school and how to improve on all of its weaknesses were part of that.

With two minutes of work and a simple wireless pulse, she was free!

Penny landed with a soft thud and quickly dashed behind a tree. She was just outside of Beacon's main square, which an enormous number of Hunters were passing through. People from all over Vale, and some of the other kingdoms, had arrived to hunt down the evil Anathema that had almost overtaken Beacon. According to some of the students, it had seduced half of the freshman class. Penny had made a note to ask her father about what seducing someone entailed, but hadn't had the opportunity to yet. The word itself was on the list of things that she couldn't search the databases for, so she had to go through either him or General Ironwood.

But that was an issue for another day. For now, Penny was enjoying the rustic landscape of Beacon Academy and all of its interesting visitors. One of the Hunters in particular caught her eye, a young girl in a red cloak.

She looked too young to be a student and if that was the case she was also too young to be a Huntress. But, the crowd parted for her like she was the most dangerous person here. She walked in a mostly straight line, hood pulled so low that Penny couldn't make out her eyes. Whenever she got close to someone, they stepped out of the way and let her through. It even happened to people who weren't facing her!

They'd raise an arm so she could go under or step ever so slightly forward. Then, as soon as she passed, go back to how they were standing before.

It wasn't like she was walking slowly either, even if her steps seemed to be semi-random, they were quick. It was the same way that her father moved when he was stuck on a particularly tough problem.

He always appreciated a friendly face when that was happening and the girl also looked like she needed it.

[Infiltration Protocols Deactivated]

"Friendship Protocol Activate," Penny whispered to herself. Unfortunately, she didn't have one.

When the girl got close, Penny stepped out of the shadow of the tree and waved. "Salutat-"

The girl walked right into Penny. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but the girl was a lot stronger than she looked and she didn't slow down in the slightest. Penny toppled over backwards. If she had her combat protocols activated, she would've been able to catch herself. Instead, she just hit the ground.

The girl stepped back, eyes briefly going wide. "Oh, sorry. Umm..."

"Salutations!" Penny waved at her.

"Uhh… Are you okay?" The girl held her hand out.

"I'm wonderful! How are you?"

"I'm okay," the girl mumbled and looked away.

"You don't look okay."

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Penny moved her arm from underneath herself, held up her hand, and started counting on her fingers. "You're walking around all by yourself, you have really dark circles under your eyes, and everyone's ignoring you."

"I… that's…" The girl stuttered and looked away. "Do you want help getting up?"

Penny considered it for a moment. "Yes, I believe I would."

The girl held her hand out again. After a little while, she moved it in a circle while Penny watched her. Then, she realized what was happening.

"Thank you." Penny grabbed hold and pulled herself up. The girl almost fell on her, but she stayed on her feet after waving her other arm around.

"My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you." Since she already had the girl's hand, Penny shook it, just like her father taught her.

"I'm Ruby… Umm…" She started pulling her arm back, which made it hard to shake. "Can you let go?"

Penny considered it, still shaking. "Yes. Yes, I can." She stopped, her own hand going back down to her side.

"Okay…" Ruby stared at her. Penny stared back.

There was something she was supposed to do when meeting new people, but Penny couldn't remember what it was. She'd introduced herself. Ruby'd also introduced herself… Maybe, she was supposed to say something nice?

"You have fascinating eyes." Penny smiled as widely as she could, smiles were good. "They look like sparkling quartz."

"Um, thank you?" Ruby turned her head to the side and half-smiled. "I… Like your dress?"

She'd returned the compliment! "My father made it for me!"

"That's nice," Ruby said slowly, stepping back.

"It is nice." Penny stepped forward to maintain the proper distance. Conversations were optimized when they occurred at a distance between two and three feet from the other person.

"Yeah, so… I'm gonna just…" Ruby's eyebrows furrowed. She stepped closer and squinted at Penny. "Penny, are you alright?"

Penny checked her status. "I'm one-hundred-percent functional."

"Why can't I hear your heart then?"

Penny froze. No one had ever asked her that before.

"Penny?" Ruby waved a hand in front of her face.

"I'm thinking."

"What's there to think about?" Ruby stepped even closer and put a hand on the front of Penny's neck. "You… you don't have a heartbeat."

"Uhh…" Penny searched through every scenario they'd prepared her for. This one was missing. "You don't need to have one of those."

"Yes, you do!"

A quick search revealed that Ruby was correct, humans did need to have heartbeats. "I-I need to go."

Penny turned around, but Ruby re-appeared in front of her in a flurry of rose petals. One of her hands were resting on the weapon on her back. "Penny, what are you? You don't have a heartbeat and your Aura's weird. Really weird."

"I-" Penny stammered, glancing around. Everyone else was ignoring them. "I'm going to be a student at Atlas Academy."

"Going to be?" Ruby's glare bored into her. "Then why are you here? How could you see me?"

That was another difficult question. _Something in the back of Penny's mind told her that she should tell Ruby the truth._ "I… I'm combat ready!"

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that I'm fully armed and operational."

"You…" Ruby stepped back. "You're not alive, are you?"

Penny considered it for a moment. "Of course I'm alive! I have a family. My father was so happy when he brought me into this world."

Ruby quirked her head to the side. "He, but… What? That's what girls do."

"No, that's what my father did. He was in labor for hundreds of hours after I was delivered. Far more than either of the women he works with."

Ruby stopped talking and made a lot of different faces, one right after the other. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. It was her turn to talk, but she wasn't talking, so Penny just continued to smile brightly.

"Penny-" Ruby eyed her with suspicion. "-are you some kind of robot?"

Penny considered what to say for a moment. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that, _but she was also supposed to trust Ruby._ "Yes."

Ruby stepped back. "Atlas made a robot with a soul."

"Yes." Penny nodded. "But don't tell anyone about that. It's supposed to be top secret."

"What were you designed for?"

"To be the optimal Huntress, able to fight any foe in any terrain."

"They made a living weapon." Ruby dropped her head, her voice flat.

"Yes." Penny replied with a chirp.

Ruby looked up again, meeting Penny's eyes. "You're a weapon."

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Penny tilted her head to the side, matching Ruby. "It's great to be alive and to be a weapon. If I wasn't, then I wouldn't be able to fight evil."

"I-" Ruby pulled her weapon from her back and stared at it.

"Your gun looks very functional."

"She's also a scythe."

"Ahh, even better!"

Ruby stared at her scythe-gun for a long time. Penny stared at her too, but she really didn't know what she could say about the design.

"Penny… What were you made to fight?"

"The Grimm."

"Not the Anathema?"

"Oh no, not them. Everyone says that they're evil, but I haven't received any training regarding how to fight them." Penny also doubted she'd be called on to do that, they hardly seemed evil. In fact, the only one she'd seen seemed very kind.

Someone had left a video of a young Anathema boy being interviewed on one of the hard drives that she wasn't supposed to have access to. She tried to find other videos, but the other directories were actually secure.

"The Anathema are monsters. Everyone knows this."

Her lessons on the Anathema were scheduled for next month, so Penny made a note to ask about that when it came up. The most she'd seen, besides that video, were when they showed up in movies. It was a sad day when she learned that all of the characters she'd loved never really existed. "Well, I know that some of them have horns, just like the Faunus. And a lot of the soldiers I know really don't like the Faunus. Are they related in some way?"

The history of the Faunus was another lesson that they hadn't gotten to yet.

"That's a terrible thing to say!"

"Why?"

"Because the Faunus are just like us. There's good ones and bad ones and… and…" Ruby went quiet again.

After a long time spent staring at the ground, she turned. "Penny, it was nice meeting you, but I need to go."

"Salutations, Ruby! It was a pleasure meeting you!"


	49. Chapter 8-2

Coming back home was supposed to make someone feel relief. It was supposed to be a place where you could let your guard down and really relax, a place where you knew that the people you cared about would be waiting for you.

Beacon was the first home he'd ever had, but it hardly felt like that right now.

"Shit's fucked." Qrow slurred slightly, hunching over with his hands in his pockets. They were walking towards the infirmary. He had a lot of memories of that place, most of them good, despite the reasons why he had been there.

"An accurate, if vulgar, statement." Glynda walked alongside.

"You got any other smart ways to describe it?"

"A terrible destruction of potential. A PR disaster of monumental proportions. The worst Anathema infiltration of a major combat school in twenty years," she said, all completely dryly. "I could go on."

"Don't, just, don't." He waved his hands. "Why couldn't you bring someone else in for this?"

"You were the best choice from our very limited list of options."

"Tai would've been better."

"When we called him, he couldn't remember who she was."

Qrow winced. "Anyone else?"

"Several of her teachers at Signal, none of whom remembered her."

"That's it?"

"We could have contacted Raven, but…" Glynda didn't need to say anything else. "You're the only person she might listen to right now, who also has the right knowledge to not make anything worse."

Qrow blew his bangs out of his eyes and shook his head. Yeah, he knew what Ruby was, sort of. He'd also move mountains for the girls if he could, but this wasn't exactly something he was good at. When Tai broke down, Qrow turned to the bottle and barely helped his best friend deal with his wife's death. It was a miracle that Ruby and Yang grew up as well-adjusted as they were considering the role models they had.

"The way I see it, I'd be called in no matter what happened. We only have so many Hunters capable of fighting something like this." Qrow spat on the ground. "At least I'll be able to do some good first."

"You don't have to take part in the actual hunt."

"If someone's gotta do it, I'd rather it be someone who knew her, someone who'll make it clean."

"You said if."

"Yeah, I did. You gonna make something of it?"

"Not right now, no." Glynda shook her head. "But, you may want to avoid implying certain things to Miss Rose. She already hates the system we have a great deal."

"She deserves the truth, as much of it as we can give her. If she's anything like Summer, nothing else'll satisfy her."

"I-" Glynda cut herself off. "From what I understand, she's figured some of it out herself and that may be the best method of assuaging her paranoia."

Qrow nodded and pressed forward, knocking the door open with his knee. They were expecting him and led him right to her section. The only problem was, someone he wasn't expecting was waiting for him. Weiss Schnee was in the waiting room, a small miracle. As he walked up, her eyes flickered from her scroll to him.

"You don't look like a therapist," she said, fingers still dancing over her screen.

"Nope. I'm Ruby's uncle."

"Ahh, that's good. She needs to talk to someone she trusts to break the spell. I'm not sure what they told you, but it implants suggestions into-" She crinkled her nose when he got closer. "You reek of whiskey."

"Yep." Qrow walked up and stood over top of her.

"Why would you drink that much? Don't you care about Ruby?"

"And how does a girl like you know what that smells like?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you implying something?"

"I'm implying a lot of things." Qrow leaned against the wall and looked directly down at her. "Just how far does the apple fall from the tree?"

If looks could kill, he'd be a dead three times over. The little girl could give his sister a run for her money. To her credit, she didn't do anything else. But that was suspicious all by itself. What teenager had that sort of self control?

"Scary, but not scary enough to stop me from worrying about my niece."

"I've been trying to help Ruby with her current issues, however limited that help may be." Weiss furrowed her brow. "Just keeping track of her for the past hour has been giving me a headache. She's tried to run away from this twice so far and-"

"Good to know, but I never said I was talking about Ruby."

She responded with only the slightest amount of hesitation. "Yang is Anathema. If anything, you ought to be worrying about what her influence on either Ruby or myself was."

He raised an eyebrow. That was a very quick and well thought out response without any stuttering. Just how much did Oz look into her?

"And what sort of things did she do to you?" He put just the right twist on his tone to make it sound entirely inappropriate.

"None of your business" —a twinge of color appeared on the girl's cheeks— "and, as far as I'm aware, she didn't do anything significant to Ruby. That was the work of the other Anathema that we fought."

That was a point he could hammer on, a way to get her to do snap in some way, but he was _not_ going to press into Yang's relationships any more than that. Instead he rolled his eyes. "Right, right, nothing significant happened that stopped Ruby from fighting the demon."

"That wasn't a fight we were capable of winning."

"A real Huntress would've fought anyway, tried to save as many of those poor Faunus as she could."

"They were terrorists and murderers who were trying to kill us."

"They were people being attacked, with no chance of defending themselves." He shook his head and stepped back to watch more closely. She was ice cold. "You really are your father's daughter if that's how you think."

The glare was back.

"The Atlesian Specialists might be a bunch of sellouts, but even they wouldn't fail like that." He paused, turning away from her. "Your sister would've done what was right."

"What do you know about Winter?"

Qrow continued walking down the hall.

"Hey!" Weiss stood up, her voice reacquiring some amount of humanity, "What do you know about my sister?"

He turned around and met the little girl's eyes one more time. "I know that she understands what being a Huntress means. More than you ever will."

Qrow turned away again and waited for the outburst, but it never came. She had way too much self-control for someone her age and that wound up. Her sister was an ice queen, but even she would've hit him by now. Hell, she had the last time they'd run into each other. But, Weiss could wait for his next meeting with Oz.

He stopped in front of the door. This was a conversation he'd expected to have years from now. After a deep breath, he forced a grin on his face. It faltered when he saw her.

Ruby was sitting on a couch near the side of the room, scowling at the door. Her expression flickered for just a moment with joy, then settled into fear that didn't belong on anyone, let alone someone that young. All with those unfamiliar red eyes, eyes which signaled her status as the slayer of Anathema.

"U-Uncle Qrow?"

"Hey squirt."

"Uncle Qrow!" She vanished.

"Ahh!" He was forced to take a step back when a hundred pounds of niece slammed into him.

She squeezed him hard. "You remember me!"

"Of course I do."

"No one else does." Ruby shook her head back and forth.

Qrow patted her head. "It's alright."

"No, it's not. It's not alright and it's never gonna be..."

"Shh, shh." He rubbed her hair and wrapped his other arm around her. "Come on, times've been tough before, but life always gets better."

"Not like this." Ruby sniffled. "They're gonna kill Blake and Yang, and everyone keeps forgetting about me, except for Weiss, but I don't know how safe it is to talk to her and… and.."

There was a lot of information packed into two very worrying phrases. "Hey, hey. Look, we'll make sure we take care of the monster that killed her."

"That's not true." Ruby slowly looked up at him. An angry red glare made him flinch away. It reminded him way too much of every time he fought with his sister. "She's still Yang."

Qrow closed his eyes and sighed, "No, no it isn't."

"You know?"

"Yeah, I know. I've known for a while."

"But you…. You were the one who taught us about them at Signal! You told us that they were demons, not people!"

"Yeah, I did." As the best Huntsman at Signal, and the only one with direct experience facing an Anathema, the task of teaching young kids about them fell to him. It was by far the class he dreaded the most, but he still had to teach it every year.

"Why didn't you tell us the truth?"

"I'm not sure how well you remember this considering what had happened, but about a year after your mom died, I disappeared for a couple of months. That was right after I found out about the truth." He didn't really remember a lot about that time, waking up so drunk that he could barely walk did that to a man. "I wasn't about to put a bunch of kids through that. Not when they might need to fight their friends and family later down the line."

"But… We're supposed to be heroes. Lying like that… tricking us into killing people..."

"It's a lot easier to be a hero when you've got something pure evil to fight." Damn did he need another drink, but he wasn't about to do that in front of Ruby. "Think about how much easier it is to destroy the Grimm. There's a reason why so many criminals go unpunished. Most Hunters don't have the stomach for it. But the Grimm? You don't need to worry about whether or not they deserve it, or anyone misunderstanding what you're doing."

"It's not right."

"It makes sure they can sleep at night. It keeps them from quitting or drawing the Grimm during the actual fight. It's better to not know." He closed his eyes and shook his head. Ignorance was bliss, and he knew a lot more than anyone could be comfortable with. "Now, what I want to know is, how did you find out about that?"

Ruby waited for far too long, not looking at him. "Weiss was the one who told me about it. I didn't want to believe her, but it just made sense. Yang never changed, not really. She just got a little more secretive about certain stuff."

"But it wasn't Yang who told you, it was Weiss?"

"Yeah."

Qrow stepped back and nudged her towards the couch. That was another suspicious box checked for Weiss Schnee. Oz might need to schedule a stage three soon. "What did she say?"

"I can't remember it exactly, but it was really convincing. I've heard her debate Blake for hours now and this was completely different." Ruby wrapped her arms around her knees as she sat down. "And if she can convince me about that so quickly, I don't know what else she could do."

"Why'd she do it?"

"I-I was gonna shoot Yang." Her voice quivered.

"You sure about that?" He patted her shoulder. "It's not easy, going after someone you care about. You're young, no one would blame you if you couldn't do it."

Ruby sniffled and went quiet for a minute. "Uncle Qrow?"

"Yes?"

"What are you gonna do after this?"

He considered it for a moment. "Well, there are a lot of very pretty professors who've never met someone with these rugged good looks."

Ruby chuckled halfheartedly into her knees, then stopped abruptly. "Yeah… But really, what're you going to do? You're one of the best huntsmen in Vale."

"If I go out there, it'll save lives." That was the cold truth. "This is the type of fight where you fight past your Aura breaking, you go until the bitter end. She won't be able to get away without killing people."

"You're going to kill Yang."

"Ruby, your sister is… She's Anathema. She's going to be hunted until someone confirms the kill."

"But she's Yang! She's your niece!"

"You think I don't know that?" he snapped.

Ruby flinched away.

"I'm sorry, but look…" Qrow held his eyes closed for a moment. _He needed to explain himself better._ The power Yang had was just too dangerous. "Let's say you found a gun, a special gun."

Ruby nodded.

"This gun kills whatever you shoot with it and also a thousand of the same type of creature." He held his hand out, index finger pointing at the wall. "Bang! A thousand and one dead Beowolves. Bang! A thousand and one dead Ursa… Bang. A thousand and one dead people."

Ruby stayed still for a moment, then nodded again.

"Once you give this gun to someone you can never take it away. It's theirs to do whatever they want with for the rest of their life. Who do you trust with the gun?"

"Yang wouldn't shoot anyone."

"Are you sure of that?" Qrow pulled his flask out and placed it on the table. "What if she drank all of that right after going through a bad breakup?"

Ruby stared at it.

"I wouldn't trust myself with a gun like that."

"I would." Ruby grabbed the flask and handed it back to him. "You're a good person, a hero. You wouldn't do anything bad."

It was his turn to stare at it. There was no such thing as a good person, just someone who hadn't screwed up yet. When her time came, he hoped that it wouldn't be a bad one.

"If…" Ruby mumbled, "if you need to do that to Yang, then what about me?"

"You're not Anathema."

"But, I glow and have extra Semblances, lots of them. And, I learn things really fast too. All of those are supposed to be signs."

"You're not Anathema, you're-" Qrow cut himself off. If there was one thing that he didn't know how to explain, it was what she was and how he knew about it.

Ruby looked at him, her eyes shadowed with fear. _He needed to tell her what he could._

"I can't really explain how I know this, but I know you're not Anathema."

"Then what am I?"

"You're… You're the type of person who brought them down." _There was something he could explain_ , even if it sounded ridiculous. "A long, _long_ time ago, way before any history book I've ever read, the Anathama used to rule the world. They… did a lot of bad things, misused their power, and in the end, people like you put a stop to them."

"I…" Ruby stared at her hands. "I'm supposed to…"

"Be the champion of humanity, a real heroine, the one who stops the Anathema from destroying the world." He smiled. "You'll be the light in the world that we were supposed to be."

Ruby held her breath and continued staring.

"I'm going to make sure that you're brought to the place where I learned this as soon as I can."

She didn't respond.

"Ruby?"

"I'm… I'm the one who's supposed to kill them? To kill Blake and Yang?"

"No, no one would ever ask you to do that."

"But you said-"

Qrow grabbed her shoulders. "Just because that's the role you've been given, doesn't mean you need to do it now. You're still a kid, leave the ugly stuff to your uncle."

Ruby looked at him, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

He blinked.

She vanished.

He looked at the couch and when he looked back, the door was open.

"Ruby, come back here!" Weiss shouted from the hallway.

Fuck.

* * *

Peace and serenity.

The words filtered through her thoughts as her consciousness expanded. It filled the world around her, touching every pole, every wire, and every blade.

She was surrounded by enemies, but knew no fear. Sword in hand, she readied herself.

They came two at a time, one high and one low. She leapt into the air, dancing between the strikes and lashing out with a blow of her own at each available opening. Metal rang against metal, a nearly silent sound, but one that she could hear clearly.

Again and again the attacks came at her, but with a flourish of her blade, she remained untouched. When the first ache formed in her legs, she drew her shield and readied her spear. With her Aura focused, she was ready for the second wave.

They came again, faster this time, and with more varied attacks. A third assailant joined in, then a fourth, and a fifth. It took all of her focus to keep from getting hit. For a normal person, such an onslaught would surely result in their defeat, but she had been training all of her life. With the Kata of the Shieldmaiden, she was barely able to match all of her opponents. They could not hit her, nor could she land a decisive blow on them.

And so she danced within a whirlwind of blades, until all five backed away. A storm of shards had been gathered in the distance and now they launched. Her Aura burned, as did her muscles, while she furiously batted them away. When the wave passed, it swerved and returned, just as quickly as before. A vision of her teammates, wounded, appeared in her mind, alongside the members of team RWBY.

They gave her a source of strength, a well of power that would allow her to push through any obstacle.

With each pass, fewer shards impacted her body. More importantly, fewer flew past her. With each pass, she came closer and closer to perfection of form. Without such perfection, she would never be able to protect herself, let alone protect her friends.

To be given skill such as this was a gift from the gods and-

A gunshot sounded in the night.

Pyrrha opened her eyes and let the shards of metal fall to the ground. That rifle's sound was all too familiar. Ruby was fighting somewhere in the Emerald Forest.

She slid her practice equipment back into the duffel bag with her Semblance and hid it under a bush. This grove was far off of the beaten path and didn't have any cameras, so using it for practice was ideal . However, being weighed down when a friend might need help would not benefit anyone.

With her burden removed, Pyrrha dropped off of the cliff, slowing her fall with her Semblance at the end. She was running as soon as her heels hit the ground.

Finding Ruby wasn't difficult, all Pyrrha needed to do was follow the Grimm. As she got closer to the shots, their density increased. But strangely enough, they didn't seem to notice her; instead, they ran past her.

They ran past her, into a slaughter.

Ruby dashed around the open field as a whirling storm of rose petals. It was only thanks to the burning mark of Mars upon her forehead that Pyrrha was able to follow her movements at all.

Whenever she appeared, her scythe tore through all of the Grimm surrounding her. Then, she fired her gun, more Grimm exploded, and she vanished once more.

"Why?!" Ruby screamed to the heavens, standing on top of a pile of fallen Grimm. Her voice was hoarse. "Why would you do this to me?!"

She fire twice more, the Beowolves climbing towards her fell. A black miasma covered the ground from the sheer number.

"Why would you give me these powers and then make this happen? All I wanted was for everyone to be happy! Why am I supposed to be the one who kills Yang?"

A pair of wings fluttered above Pyrrha. Two black birds were sitting in the tree, seemingly staring at each other with one eye and watching Ruby with the other. Normally birds would avoid Grimm in the woods or been spooked by the gunshots, but these two didn't even flinch whenever Ruby fired.

"It isn't fair. It just isn't fair!" Ruby vanished into a flash of red light. Creeps and Beowolves flew through the air around the point where she came back. "I wanted to be a normal Huntress, not anyone special. And now, everyone forgets about me."

Pyrrha shrank away. She'd done her best to remember everything that Ruby had done, but sometimes she needed reminding.

"I just made a new friend, and if I don't text her every morning, she asks me who I am and why I know so much about her by breakfast. What kind of blessing is that?" Ruby continued yelling at the stars. "It's more like a curse if you ask me. So, tell me. If I'm supposed to be your chosen one; if I'm supposed to live like this for the rest of my life-"

Pyrrha wanted to run out there and tell Ruby that she was here for her, but something kept her rooted in place.

"-What do you want me to do?" Ruby screamed so loudly that it made Pyrrha wince.

A shiver ran down Pyrrha's spine while Ruby panted.

"A most unique prayer," a woman's voice called out from on top of the Grimm pile.

Pyrrha's eyes darted towards her and her breath froze in her lungs. She had seen many powerful warriors in her day. Men and women who could silence an arena with a wave of their hand. This woman's presence alone quelled the sounds of the forest with a glance. Even the Grimm were given pause.

She wore a beautiful red dress that would not look out of place in the high courts of Mistral. A long braid of scarlet hair fell from her shoulders to her knees with bright, multi-colored quipu binding it together. The colors of each pulsed slightly with every movement. While the only light was the red glow of Ruby's Aura, Pyrrha could still make out that the woman's hands were red as well, as if they had been coated in blood for so long that it had dyed them.

A lone Beowolf was the only creature moving. It charged up the rock, jaws opened wide. She smoothly stepped to the side, catching the monster in the chest with her elbow. In a smooth motion, she drew the straight sword from her belt and beheaded it, the edges of the blade flashing with red and silver light. The light of the Beowolf's eyes went dark.

A moment later, so did those of the rest of the Grimm as well. Each of them slumped over, their own heads severed. Every last Grimm that Pyrrha could see and several more that had still been coming, slain in an instant.

"There shall be no further distractions." She sheathed her blade, its tip pointing directly at Pyrrha in the middle of the motion. "Now then, my Shieldbearer, this is the first time that you have called upon me."

Every fiber of Pyrrha's being was demanding that she fall to her knees that instant, but… doing so would be a distraction and she was _not_ going to do anything that disrupted this Holy ceremony. She had never, even in her wildest dreams, thought that she might see this. If only she were worthy of asking a question of her own.

Ruby slowly approached, her eyes flickering at the decomposing Grimm. "You could kill them all, couldn't you?"

"Such a defense of Creation is not my place."

"But... You could kill them all, every last one of the Grimm?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you? They're monsters that do nothing, but make everyone's lives worse."

"Because, young Shieldbearer, that responsibility belongs to you."


	50. Chapter 8-3

"What do you mean that's my responsibility? You're the one in charge of… things!" Ruby stepped forward, her weapon still in hand.

Pyrrha could barely believe it. Ruby was yelling at the goddess!

"The rulership over Creation was bestowed upon the Chosen. It is you who choose to fight amongst yourselves rather than unite as one," The Maiden of Battles said in an even tone, similar to that of many masters Pyrrha had heard when they were speaking to novices. When Ruby attempted to interrupt, she continued without allowing it. "As a Shieldbearer lacking other assignments, this broken, infected world is yours to cleanse, if you so choose. You may also take your leave of it and work for the betterment of other worlds. None of your brethren would begrudge you such a decision. It would not be the first time that the effort required to make repairs was judged to not be worth the resources."

"What? That's awful! I would never abandon..." Ruby stammered and stared at Lady Mars. After a moment of silence, she took a breath and said, "What do you mean broken?"

With another wave of her sword, the Grimm corpses were obliterated. However, they did not vanish as they normally would; instead they burned away as violet flames consumed their bodies. "The creatures you fight, the air you breath, the very Essence that you respire is tainted, infected. Any who were familiar with the proper state of being would be repulsed. Though, it is not surprising that you would be unaware of this degeneration, much as a fish would not know it is wet."

"Well why not fix it then? You obviously know what's wrong. If we can't even notice that, we can't do anything about it."

"Once more, that is a responsibility of the Chosen. Not only because of their rulership over Creation, but also because it is a result of their own actions. These creatures, the twisted results of a project that both the Sun and Moon's Chosen enacted millennia ago, are ."

"The Anathema created the Grimm?" Ruby gasped. Pyrrha did as well. If that was true, then they were even more vile than she'd been lead to believe.

"They created the spell which produces such beasts as part of a combat experiment which would test their own defenses against the energies commanded by Creation's greatest dangers. Judging by their current shape, lacking in major deformities caused by combining so many divergent forms of Essence, it has been refined since its discovery."

"Then… Then they really are monsters who'll destroy everything."

"An accurate summary of the beliefs of your teachers, the goals of those who corrupted the Exaltations of the Solars, and the fears of those who prevented them from doing so." Lady Mars flickered, reappearing on the ground without taking a single step. "It is also the argument that my own Chosen used when they overthrew the previous regime. It was more powerful, more entrenched, than you could imagine. The ensuing war was eclipsed in its devastation by only one other. Though, some argue that the changes brought about by those actions were more severe. Creation was torn asunder by the hands of the Chosen, the very limits of that which allowed it to exist in its former form were reached."

Ruby froze.

"When the war concluded, nothing was the same as it had been, nor will it be again. The new state remains stable, if different. Some"- Lady Mars glanced towards the moon -"embrace the change, speaking enthusiastically about how the memories of other realities that they once were part of now may play out for others to behold. Of course, one week later she decided otherwise."

Pyrrha didn't know enough about the worship of Luna to have any idea what Lady Mars meant, but it didn't sound good.

"Then," Ruby said softly, "what am I supposed to do? Kill all of the Anathema? How would that help? They just keep coming back!"

She shook her head back and forth. "I could keep fighting the Grimm, but I can't just kill all of them by myself. And if someone can really make more of them whenever they want, I'd never catch up."

"True, you cannot defeat them all. However, by the end of your second century, you would be able to render them impotent solely with your own power." The Lady vanished again, reappearing next to Ruby. Considering Pyrrha would need to look up to see the goddess' face, Ruby had to strain her neck to do so. "If you ceased fighting with those you ought to be advising, then it would be trivially accomplished within your first."

Pyrrha gaped alongside Ruby. The end of her second century? Most Huntresses didn't even reach eighty, let alone one hundred.

"What? Who am I supposed to be advising?"

"The other Chosen, those you had been assigned to lead."

"You mean Blake and Yang." Ruby's anger reappeared, but it was muted. "But, they're Anathema, demons. You just said that they're monsters who almost destroyed the world and could do it again. Why would I help them if that's true?"

"It was also by the hands of the Chosen that the fragments of Creation remained intact, if in an altered state. Were you to ask my sisters the reason that this occurred, they each, save Jupiter, would provide a different answer. She would simply smile knowingly and provide no additional information," Lady Mars continued, mentioning the Maiden of Secrets. "My own is this: a conflict was inevitable, for there exists no class of being that would be so satisfied it would not seek out a greater challenge than any it had encountered before. And for the Chosen, such challenges are grand in scope indeed. It was only natural that they fight each other when the foes that they were created to vanquish were long since dealt with."

"I-" Ruby stopped talking and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I appreciate knowing this, but I don't really see how a history lesson's important right now. Knowing how the Grimm are made or that the Anathema are actually all also blessed is nice, but it doesn't help me know what I should be doing to make things better. I don't know who's making the Grimm and even if the Anathema aren't super evil… they're still really dangerous."

"A very important decision lies in your immediate future. You would search for answers with the same techniques that were used to decide the future of Creation so long ago without any knowledge of their limitations. Through ignorance of your own history, you bring yourself into minor conflicts with those who should either be your allies or be deceased. Many of my Shieldbearers would insist that the later is the proper course of action, others disagree."

"What do you think?"

"That is now the decision that you will need to make, though your own opinion may play a part in it." Lady Mars continued without answering Ruby's question.

Ruby took a deep breath. "Before I knew about it, I didn't want to fight them; I wanted to help. Now… I don't know. Was there anything else I could've done that would wind up being better?"

"There was no outcome that you would have considered acceptable that would have helped them." Lady Mars drew an ornate scroll from the air. "This is a list that I obtained from Jupiter for this meeting. Contained within it are two hundred queries you've submitted to the Loom of Fate. Most revolve around a single question, 'How can I find out what my teammates are hiding from me?' So long as keeping their secrecy was not an option, there were no happy answers. And yet, you should have known the truth the entire time."

"How was I supposed to know they were Anathema?"

"You can hear the flow of their Essence and through it the truth about their nature. While your ears were open, your mind was closed to the possibility, and your choices restricted as a result."

"I…"

"Your visions of what could be are blind to those options you would never consider. A path may exist that would further your goals more than those you saw, but if so, it would lie in the darkness, out of your reach until you open your mind to the possibility."

"How was I supposed to know any of that?" Ruby waved an arm to the side. Her fingers were held out, as if she was strumming an instrument, then curled as if she'd grabbed onto something. "This took me weeks to figure out and I still have no idea why this happens. How can you expect me to do something when I don't know what I'm working with?"

"And so you draw the proper blade for the first time in this meeting." Lady Mars held her hand out in front of her, fingers outstretched. "You are correct, a grave disservice has been allowed to occur. It is tradition for our Chosen to be trained from their youth, so that they are prepared for the tasks ahead of them."

A crimson ribbon twisted from her hand, forming an enormous scythe made of metal that glittered with the colors of the Maidens. The weapon was proportionally sized to Ruby's own.

"And so we shall begin upon the battlefield that you are most comfortable." She stepped back, taking up a stance that was all too familiar. It was identical to the one Ruby used a few minutes earlier.

"I- Fine." Ruby nodded and settled into a tail stance. After a moment, she vanished into a burst of red light, and the battle was joined.

* * *

Pyrrha's eyes flickered back and forth, following every movement that she could. She silently cursed herself with every blink because that moment of closing made her miss a slight step that may be all too important.

The goddess moved with confidence and purpose, entirely in control; as it should be. She danced smoothly, without any hesitation or jerky swings. Ruby was a lumbering oaf by comparison, even though the girl fought with more skill than most of their peers. However, even her best was no match against such an opponent.

Lady Mars' reach was slightly longer, her strikes slightly faster, and her precision immaculate. Ruby dashed around her testing her range, pressing any minor advantage that she could find. None of her blows connected and every one of her mistakes was immediately punished.

Ruby stepped a little too far forward, then was thrown into the air, her legs swept out from beneath her. If she over committed to a single strike, a lightning-fast retaliation slammed into her. Each of her attacks missed by fractions of an inch, the beak of Ruby's scythe causing the silk of Mars' dress to ripple. They were the movements of a teacher, of someone as far beyond Ruby's skill level as Ruby's own was above Jaune… At least, before he started taking his training seriously. Or, as was more likely, Lady Mars was so far beyond such a point that Pyrrha couldn't recognize any further difference.

Of course, simply demonstrating what a student could do in time would teach them nothing. Every so often, an opening was left for Ruby to take. Only then would her steel strike true.

They fought in a flurry, both vanishing for seconds at a time, only to reappear in the middle of a swing. Sometimes, Ruby used her splitting technique, attacking from every angle she could. At others, her blows seemed to be thrown wildly, yet her scythe somehow wound up close to connecting anyway.

After what felt like hours, though Pyrrha knew it had really been minutes, Lady Mars held a hand up.

"Your mastery of the fundamentals is acceptable. However, you have a debilitating weakness. Do you know what it is?"

Ruby stopped to catch her breath. "I, umm, get hit too much?"

"That is part of your issue. However, the most straightforward explanation is this." Lady Mars held her scythe low. The curve of the blade began glowing red. "You fight like a mortal."

"Umm…"

"When you use your Essence to aid your style, you do so as if you still had your body's former limitations, rather than allowing it to guide your weapon on its proper path." She lunged, purposefully off balance, and swung her scythe one handed. It moved so quickly that it made the air around them crack. Such an attack was impossible to control, yet only Ruby's bangs moved.

"When you step along the strings of Fate, you do so as if they were a physical path." She began an upward swung, then vanished. In the same instant, she reappeared above Ruby, attacking as if she were standing on the ceiling.

"And yes, you rely on your inborn protection too much." She shifted again, this time appearing back to back with Ruby. The tip of her scythe touched Ruby's thigh, completely ignoring her Aura. Pyrrha winced, but kept her eyes on the fight. A thin line of blood appeared where Ruby's tights were torn. "There are many techniques that would prove fatal if you allowed them to connect like that."

"What am I supposed to do when you attack that fast?"

"Your fellow Chosen would be able to assault you with far more ferocity than I am currently, to say nothing of what an accomplished sorcerer or spirit might do without any physical threat." She vanished again, reappearing in front of Ruby in the same stance that they started with. "But, there exists a technique which would allow you to survive all of those, for a time. Such a technique is well within your grasp. When the strings of Fate warn you of your doom, you must grab hold of them and remove yourself from the future where the event occurs."

"How? I can barely make a future I want happen with hours of effort?"

Lady Mars lowered her weapon. "Attempt to strike me and listen carefully to how I alter what will be."

Ruby nodded and obeyed. With each of her attacks, the Maiden vanished, only to reappear several feet away. After five successive attempts, she held up a hand.

"You already know how to step along the strands, now you must step through them. Remove yourself from them, alter that which will be, and reemerge without being harmed," With that said, she attacked.

This time, her scythe continuously sliced Ruby. With each attack, the girl vanished in a flash of light. Sometimes she did it quickly enough to get away; most of the time she didn't. The small cuts continued to add up until Ruby's sleeves and tights were in tatters.

"You are moving yourself along the strands more quickly and jumping between them, not through them."

"If I'm supposed to avoid attacks, shouldn't that be enough? I won't be there to get hit."

"No, doing so would not prevent someone from manipulating your being or controlling your mind. Changing location is not sufficient. However, you are also stumbling from your injures, hold still." Lady Mars stepped forward and laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder. In an instant, her wounds closed.

"Well, what now?"

"You are a true warrior, my Shieldbearer, one who is familiar with the pain of combat and is willing to sacrifice herself for her allies if the need is there. As such, failure to dodge the next blow will risk more than just yourself."

She left her scythe low and stepped in with an open palm strike to Ruby's chest. It connected before Ruby had a chance to move and sent a shiver down Pyrrha's spine.

"What?" Ruby gasped and looked directly at Pyrrha. "What did that do?"

Lady Mars vanished again, moving away in a flash of light. When she reappeared she swung with one hand and gestured with the other. Ruby moved herself this time, but Pyrrha couldn't pay attention to the result.

The searing pain made her scream.

A thin, shallow cut had been opened along her left arm. It was the type of wound that hurt far more than it was dangerous.

The pair of birds above her squawked as well, feathers flying from their left wings.

"Why?!" Ruby screamed as she grabbed her arm, the same cut on it. "Why would you do that to them?"

"Because you must learn this. Merely avoiding your own pain is not the sort of motivation that would propel you to greater heights," The Maiden of Battles said coldly. Pyrrha had been taught that receiving a lesson from her would push someone past their limits, bring them one step closer to the perfection that their goddess demanded of her warriors. She'd never before considered what that might have entailed. "For you to face those who truly threaten you, such a technique is required. And unless you abandon your world, such knowledge will not be gained by the time you need it. Now prepare yourself, for every wound that you receive shall also be dealt to those that you love the most."

"You're a monster. Do you even care about people?" Ruby continued shouting as the first attack came in. She vanished in the same red burst. Pyrrha's leg screamed as it too was sliced open. "You threaten my friends. You don't care about any of the people the Grimm are killing. Actually, I've never heard of a god or goddess responding to anyone's prayers. Do you care about any of us?"

"You presume too much." Lady Mars said angrily and banished the scythe. Pyrrha's body shook uncontrollably at the tone she used. To those who worshiped her, the anger of Lady Mars was legendary.

She assumed an unfamiliar stance that radiated with power. Her arms and legs flickered in Pyrrha's vision, each appearing twice. Two of her hands were held forward, both from right arms.

"What- What is that?" Ruby stepped back, her eyes wide with fear.

"A technique that is far beyond your ability. If you fail to avoid it, the souls of every person that you care about will be utterly and irrevocably destroyed."

Both of the birds tried to move. They began jumping off of the branch, directly towards the fight. Neither made it into the air because tiny threads appeared from nowhere and bound them in place.

"Prepare yourself." Lady Mars vanished.

Pyrrha's heart practically jumped out of her throat from how hard it was beating. Was this her real Destiny? Was this the way she was going to die? Killed by the hand of the goddess that she worshipped without any ability to fight back?

Lady Mars appeared behind Ruby, her fingers plunging towards the girl. Pyrrha held her breath.

Ruby disappeared. There was no flash of light, no indication that anything changed. She was merely there one moment and gone the next.

She reappeared several feet in front of her previous position, one hand clasping her own chest right above her heart. Ruby panted and shivered, then slowly turned around. Her aura of light was burning brighter than Pyrrha had ever seen it before.

"Very good." Lady Mars dropped the stance. "Even with such a technique, there are still dangers. Had I attacked you with my full strength, it would have connected."

"Why?"

"Because in that moment, you held eight lives within your hands." Her voice was soft, almost solemn. "Soon, you will make choices that control the lives of millions. Every one of them will be just as precious to someone else as those seven were to you."

"I- I can't… That's not fair! I'm not ready!"

"Fair or not, it simply is." She laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder and once more her wounds vanished. "For every action that you take, there are hundreds which you did not. Each of these other paths would result in different lives being saved or lost."

Ruby clenched her fists and looked down. "I'm just fifteen. I didn't want any of this."

"There are few who would seek such a responsibility if they knew of it, fewer still who would rise to what is needed. You were chosen for a reason." She reached down and pulled Ruby's chin up so that they looked eye to eye. "You are more ready than you know."

Tears streamed down Ruby's cheeks as the light grew brighter and brighter. Motes of light, each a different shade of red, spiraled down from the heavens and swirled into her. Pyrrha tried to keep her eyes on it, make sure that she saw what happened, but she had to look away.

She felt a fog descend upon her mind. The memories of Ruby were becoming harder to call upon.

"No." Pyrrha whispered to herself, grabbing hold of the thoughts as tightly as she could. She wasn't going to abandon Ruby like that, not after everything they'd been through, after everything that she'd just heard. She may not have a blessing like Ruby, but she would do whatever it took to help. That was what being a huntress meant.

As the light died down, she looked back up. Both Ruby and Lady Mars were still there. Ruby looked… just like she always had.

Lady Mars spoke a short phrase in a beautiful language.

Ruby replied in the same one, her words slightly stilted. After a moment she gasped, "How did…"

"Very good, that gift is temporary, but you will need to learn it," Lady Mars said, understandable again. "There is more that you must know before you make your decision, a place you must see, but it is not for prying ears nor eyes."

With a wave of her hand, the air next to them shimmered. A circular gateway, appeared. Pyrrha could see something through the door, but could not make out any details.

"Come." Lady Mars began walking towards it.

Ruby glanced back to Pyrrha, her eyes glistening. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"Do not worry, young Shieldbearer. You may return for some time, if that is what you wish. It is not the decision that others have made in your place, once they had seen what else was possible, how many other worlds they might help which were also in need."

A violent twang echoed in the forest as one of the birds broke free. It flew right at them ,shifting shape as it did so. It turned into a scruffy looking man in a tattered red cape. "Ruby!"

Ruby scrunched up her face and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Uncle Qrow."

She turned around and ran through the portal. Lady Mars slowly followed while the man charged at them.

It winked out of existence right before he would have reached it.

The other bird flew away as the man started to punch the ground. He swore profusely, punctuating each hit with vulgarity that made Pyrrha's cheeks heat up with embarassment.

"Umm, hello," she said in an awkwardly high pitch. When he turned around, she waved.

Qrow groaned and pulled a flask out of his jacket. After a very, very, long drink, he met Pyrrha's eyes. "What're you looking at?"

Pyrrha froze. There was nothing kind she could say considering his appearance. Instead, her attention drifted to the spot where Ruby had vanished.

"You want some?" He held out the flask.

"No, thank you," she mumbled.

"You've got a good head on your shoulders then. The world could use more people like that." He put it away and stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Ruby could use people like that."

She agreed, but didn't pay him any more attention; her thoughts were preoccupied with her friend… and whether or not Pyrrha would ever see her again.


	51. Chapter 8-4

Weiss landed on the cliff at the edge of campus and took a deep breath. Even with her trip back being as event-less as it had been, there was still a lot to think about. Ruby had managed to accomplish something that she'd never heard of before, making one of the gods who were supposed to be in charge of the world appear.

She'd also managed to bring Weiss closer to death then she'd been besides the investigation. Though, this one likely would have been less painful. A technique like that would be invaluable to learn, though Weiss doubted that it would be at all easy. Combat techniques were difficult for her and a large gulf between her and Ruby's skills had just been revealed.

Both Blake and Yang were capable of damaging someone through their Aura. Ruby would be capable of such feats soon enough as well. They were _not_ capable of dealing with the Grimm by themselves yet, which meant that there was something out there which could challenge them. As such, Weiss needed to learn a technique like the one Ruby learned. The only question was, how…

She spared a glance at the moon; it was full tonight.

No. There were already enough uncontrolled variables in play, she wasn't about to add another. If she was going to attempt learning via the same method, then she would do it where there was no chance of anyone observing her. The inner sanctum of the Ice Palace would work well for that over winter break.

Depending on the nature of Ruby's uncle, she might even be able to lord it over him. The man had shifted from a crow to a human body. That meant he either had an incredibly rare Semblance or was a Lunar. There was the possibility that Ruby's real uncle had had his heart eaten and there was a Lunar masquerading as him. But Weiss doubted that considering how he reacted to Ruby leaving.

Ruby…

 _Weiss pushed the thoughts away._ No, now was not the time to worry. Especially considering the remainder of team JNPR was coming out of the medical center.

"Weiss!" Nora called out to her, waving a first aid kit in the air. "Were you hurt too?"

"I'm fine." She'd closed her wounds earlier and, as a result, none of the blood appeared on her skin or clothing. "Are all of you alright?"

"Now we are, but we've gotta be careful, everything's going crazy and it's not just us," Nora shouted as she ran up.

Weiss waited for her and glanced at the rest of the campus. Crazy was a good descriptor of what was happening.

Normally, there would be very few people up at this time of night. That was why she, Blake, and Yang had used the night to speak in secret and lessen Blake's curse. Now, the staff of Beacon was running around in a flurry of action.

When Nora got closer, Weiss asked, "What's happening?"

"I don't know. The three of us were all in bed, when we suddenly started bleeding all over!" Nora shouted and pointed to smudges on her arms and legs. "We couldn't figure out any way to stop it again. AND IT KEPT HAPPENING! So we went to the doctor, but he was worse than useless! He kept doing weird tests on us, that didn't have anything to do with spontaneous bleeding, and when we asked for bandages, kept tearing them by accident. "

"That's worrying." Weiss glanced over to the janitor who was mopping so hard that he was leaving puddles everywhere and making a mess of tiles that had been clean before he arrived. If the doctor had been doing his job that poorly, then team JNPR was lucky they'd left when they had.

"Yeah, and when we went to all of the Hunters who are here for the Anathema, they didn't even respond to us."

And that was worse!

"We need to do something to protect ourselves from whatever those witches did!"

Weiss took a moment to consider what she could do. If she stayed quiet, then she'd be safe, but they would panic more and more until Pyrrha came back. Pyrrha was going to tell her team what happened. Ruby would as well and, assuming Ruby ever came back, there was a lot that Weiss needed to speak with her about.

"Nora, you don't need to worry about that." It was a risk, but it was both the right thing to do to assuage her friend's fears and make later discussions easier. "It wasn't an Anathema that hurt you."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"It may be hard to believe, but it was the goddess Mars. Ruby… called upon her and one of the results of her training was harming those Ruby cared about."

"Who?" Nora and Jaune asked at the same time.

Weiss held her eyes tightly closed.

"Ruby's a friend of ours who's hard to remember," Ren said to them, then turned back to Weiss. "But, that doesn't make sense. How could we be hurt because Ruby cares about us?"

"I don't know." Weiss wished she knew. It would be incredibly helpful. "You'll have to ask her how it works, but when Pyrrha comes back, she can vouch for this happening."

"She was there as well?"

"Yes, we both followed Ruby into the forest, but I doubt she noticed me." A slight lie; Pyrrha had definitely seen Weiss, but hadn't realized what she had been.

"I-" Ren paused, checking with them. Nora shrugged in response. "I'm sorry, but I need to confirm Pyrrha's story before I can accept that. And if it's true..."

"I understand." Weiss nodded. She wouldn't believe this story is anyone else had told it to her. "The entire idea is rather-"

 _Weiss felt something tugging at the edges of her perception. She grit her teeth and forced herself to notice that which had been hidden._

There was a red glow filtering from between the curtains of her room.

"I need to go." She conjured an angled glyph onto the ground in front of her.

"What?"

She didn't say anything else. She needed to get there before Ruby had the chance to leave.

Weiss launched herself directly at her window. With a flick of her sword and some Dust, she shattered it. She had more than enough money to pay for a replacement.

Weiss landed in the middle of the room, sword still in hand. Ruby was halfway out the door, holding a packed bag. She hadn't changed her clothes at all, their dark colors concealing how much she'd bled.

For the first time since her Exaltation, Weiss was at a complete loss for words. What could she say to someone whose goddess had literally told them they were wrong about everything? What could she say in the last time she might see Ruby?

"You-" Weiss started slowly. "You're leaving."

"Yeah," Ruby responded without turning around.

"I can't exactly blame you for that, but…" Weiss paused and licked her lips. Ruby was going to go work directly with the gods. That was what she was meant to do according to Tialeth. "Will we ever see you again? Not just me. Blake and Yang too. I'll pass whatever message you want to them if I have the chance."

Ruby slowly turned to Weiss. Madness danced within her eyes.

"Ruby, what happened to you?"

* * *

Ruby had no idea what to expect when she followed Mars through the portal, but she wasn't prepared for what she found. The air was crisp and sweet, the colors more full than she'd been used to, and the fog that had always plagued her senses was gone. It was like taking her first real gulp of air after being forced to breath through a straw for her entire life.

They appeared in a deceptively simple room. It looked like an old-style training room with the flat wooden floor, benches on the sides, and every basic melee weapon Ruby knew of.

Despite all of that, the strangest thing was that the air within it hummed like an active machine shop, as did every other object that Ruby listened to. The weapons were entirely made out of Aura conductive materials and had very fine inscriptions etched into every face. But they paled in comparison to the floor. Lessons were carved into the boards. Some were poems, some diagrams, and some manuals. Or so it seemed.

All of them were written in that beautiful language which she'd been given understanding of, the language of the gods. The script was much denser than any other Ruby'd ever seen, allowing more information than should be possible to be written. Actually… no it wasn't possible. As she stared, additional layers revealed themselves, hidden underneath the first. No matter how much she peered into the well, more came forth.

"Come," Mars commanded, striding towards the large doors at the entrance.

Ruby wanted to object, but followed along instead. She'd ask about their forging later.

With a wave of the goddess's hand, the doors opened to reveal an enormous office with a wolf-man waiting for them. Not a wolf faunus, a full blown wolf man with dog head and everything. His robes were simple, but very well made and he had a curved sword on his belt.

"Lady Mars." He bowed so deeply that his back was almost parallel with the floor. "I most humbly request a moment of your time."

"You have until we reach the upper level," she replied briskly and continued walking past him. "Speak quickly or do not speak."

"Of course." The man kept pace and pulled several scrolls from his sleeves. "There are several petitions that require immediate attention."

She took the first one, opened it, and scanned it while walking. Her Aura pulsed right before she said, "Denied."

He had the next ready for her and accepted the first back. While she read the second, he marked the first. Then the process continued. Each time she used Aura before making the decision.

"Approved. Denied. Approved, provided she uses her own funds. Approved pending Saturn's approval. Denied. Sub sections one A and three B are approved, the rest denied." Mars made quick work of every one of them. It was all super dense legal mumbo-jumbo that Ruby wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of even if she had known what the Crimson Panoply of Victory or Violet Bier of Sorrows were.

It did give her some time to look at the rest of the building they were in. No matter what she examined, it was as detailed as those floor boards had been. From the paintings on the walls to the small statues on tables, everything had little carvings on them. Ruby could've done the metalwork herself in a matter of hours, but they'd been walking for several minutes already and still going over scrolls. It would have taken weeks just to do the hallway, let alone whatever was in all of the other rooms.

After going through more scrolls than should fit in the wolf-man's sleeves, Mars said, "Is there anything else that I should know about?"

"You received three visitors," he continued. "I turned two of them away as instructed, but Her Most Spirited-"

"Don't worry about all that, you're not in trouble." A blonde woman appeared right next to them. She was about a head taller than Ruby and had a very worn dress on. The edges were slightly frayed and dusty, like she'd just gone on a long run. Her eyes though, they were just like Mars', except a piercing yellow instead of red.

"Any issue regarding my subordinate's actions is for me to decide, sister." Mars briefly scowled at the woman. "Min Da, you are not in any trouble."

Min Da bowed again and muttered his thanks.

"See that each of those proposals is delivered," Mars continued. "You are dismissed."

"Of course, my Lady." He bowed very deeply to each of them in turn. "Lady Mercury. Lady Shieldbearer."

"Min Da, if she is not within Yu Shan tomorrow, then you never saw her." Mars spoke with a cold edge, just like when she used the attack that would've killed Ruby. It sent a shiver down her spine.

"Understood, my Lady." The only way Ruby could have know that he was worried was how his ears flattened out, just like Blake's. His tail was wagging a little as he walked away though. Maybe it meant he was happy?

"Gah!" Ruby jumped back when a scroll was shoved in front of her face.

"What do you think of this?" the new woman asked with what Ruby would normally call mischief dancing in her eyes, but that felt like the wrong word right now.

"Sister, what exactly are you asking of my Shieldbearer?" Mars said with a slight smile.

"Just a pique of curiosity regarding a project one of mine is almost finished with."

"Hmm." Mars nodded. "Well then, Ruby Rose, kindly indulge my dearest sister, Mercury."

Ruby couldn't help feeling that there was something else going on that she wasn't picking up on, just like with some of Blake and Weiss' debates. She was this tiny mouse stuck between two literal goddesses who she just met.

"Well…" Ruby started, trying to expand the scroll. When that failed, she just leaned closer to read the tiny print. "It looks like a large, rapid-response airship. Nothing else would need an engine that big."

When neither responded, Ruby continued. "The only weird thing is, I can't see any weapons or hard points to mount them."

"She really is one of yours, through and through." Mercury sighed and took the weird scroll away. "You can't see them because there aren't any. It's an exploratory vessel, not military."

"What? Why? It would get destroyed as soon as a Nevermore showed up!"

"You don't have any of those nasty beasts in space."

Ruby hesitated for a moment. That was a spaceship? "But… How? You can't use Dust in space. Where does the power come from?"

"Bound elementals, prayer, and a team of sorcerers continuously casting," the goddess replied, way too chipper for someone who was supposed to be in charge of parts of everything. "Not that you'd know about those just yet. I'm sure you'll pick them up just as quickly as he did, you two are from the same world after all."

"What?"

"It was a slightly more than a century ago when his fellow Harbingers found him," Mars said as Mercury opened her mouth. "The corruption of your world makes tracking anyone on it difficult."

"Someone's been here this entire time." Ruby's heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat. "You said I could deal with the Grimm by myself in two hundred… Sooner if I had help."

"That you could."

Her vision narrowed until all she could perceive was the scroll. "So what has he done to help us? He's halfway there and what the hell has he done?"

"As we speak, he's sending dreams of the schematics and operation to the mortals who will construct the first ship." Mercury leaned against the wall, right next to the first window Ruby had seen.

"Where?" Ruby snapped.

"Quite far away from here. For you, it would take several weeks, even if you knew the route to use."

"You could bring us there right now."

"I could."

"But, you're not going to."

"No, I'm not." The energy and joy was still there, but her smile had vanished. "You would interfere with him performing his duties."

"He abandoned us!"

"And so could you. There are many wonders to explore just outside of this building." She spun, traveling to the other side of the window.

Ruby didn't follow the entirety of the movement, her eyes becoming stuck on the city outside. It was beyond anything she'd ever imagined.

It was a city like no other, whose massive buildings extended as far as she could see, and that was very far. The air was clearer here, the fog that eventually turned everything blue was gone. There were miles upon miles of buildings. Millions lived in downtown Vale. How many were here? Tens of millions? Hundreds? If someone told her there were a billion, she would've believed them.

The streets below them were filled with all sorts of creatures. Most looked vaguely human, like Min Da had been, but some were creatures out of a fairy tale, including actual dragons flying through the skies.

"The divine city, Yu Shan." Mars stepped next to her. "It is the place where you will work for the remainder of your life, alongside the gods that manage every aspect of all worlds."

Ruby's nails dug into her palms hard enough to draw blood. There was so much wasted wealth in front of her that she couldn't believe it. There were so many people here that they surely would have been able to fight back against the Grimm, if any of them cared. _The fire in her blood burned so hot it turned cold._

 _There was something wrong with this city, there was something wrong with Remnant, and there was something wrong with her._

Complacency, that was the word to describe it. A willingness to accept what was there and not fight for something better. Sure, she'd argued and planned to make them change, but she'd never really done anything about what was really wrong.

"You shouldn't be too angry." Mercury smiled when Ruby looked over to her. "There's now a design for a ship that can survive interstellar travel which can be constructed and run purely through mortal hands. It may take time, but there is no reason why the people of your world would need to continue living in danger."

It would take time, time she didn't have. Waiting like that would also be playing into the system, even if she didn't understand it yet.

"But, I've taken enough of your time." Mercury opened the window and stepped up on the edge. "By the way, Mars, your next turn is swiftly approaching."

As soon as the words left her lips, she was off. Mercury flipped out of the window and ran along the side of the building in complete defiance for how gravity was supposed to work.

Normally, Ruby would have listened to the effect. Instead, _she was looking at possible futures._

"You may choose to stay here right now, partake in the wonder and majesty of Yu Shan while you complete your training." Mars laid a hand on the windowsill. "It will take several years to complete and once it is finished, you will have a large amount of responsibility."

"What if I don't want that?"

"Then your fellow Shieldbearers will attempt to convince you otherwise. If you continued to refuse after that, you will be hunted."

Ruby grit her teeth. "So I'd be declared Anathema and killed."

"By shirking your duties, you would harm billions of souls." Mars' voice was cold again. "There is always more work to do and every set of missing hands means that some issues will need to be ignored."

"Like saving my world from the Grimm."

"The Harbinger from your world had petitioned for assistance when he joined, the resources were deemed better spent elsewhere."

"So he stopped trying, left us to die."

"He did what he could and has succeeded at a project which will not require direct intervention to be beneficial."

"He's a coward." Ruby glanced at the gods walking beneath them with a feeling of disgust. They were casually using Aura conductive metal for jewelry. "He should have destroyed the Grimm himself. There're enough people here to form a team like mine."

"Each of our Sidereals, the proper name for the Chosen, has their own role to play. Yours is to be a warrior, a general, a Huntress. As part of your office, you would bring conflict to where it needs to be. There are arguments that you, as a Shieldbearer, could make which would be ignored if they came from a Harbinger's desk."

"A while ago, someone else told me something similar. I didn't like the answer then, so why would I now?" Ruby thought back to how defeated Professor Goodwitch had sounded after Weiss' investigation.

"Because heroism is not a single grand victory. It is not a chosen enemy which once it is slain, all is right with the world. It is a thousand insignificant actions that allow the lives of all to continue living. Were you to destroy the creatures that plague your world today, there would still be work to do." Mars spoke softly, but the cold fire continued to burn with Ruby. "There is no lasting victory, no lasting peace. In time, all infrastructure will decay and need to be repaired. If it is left for too long, then it will break and all that is will be lessened as a result."

"You left my world to rot and break."

"It is not yet broken, nor is it maintained. A deep rot has set in which can still be cleansed. The fat suffocating those who would help can be cut."

"But it's not worth it." Ruby considered that for a moment and continued trying to find the right future. Now that she knew she had to take her own thoughts and worries into consideration, it was a lot harder.

She waited and watched for quite some time. Mars had said they were in a hurry, but now they weren't. What was her goal here? Ruby had no idea. She obviously wanted Ruby to come here, finish her training, and get to work. But, if that was the case, why was she being given a choice in the matter?

"You said that it isn't being maintained… does anyone care about what happens?"

"Many care about those deemed Anathema being destroyed before they can threaten the fabric of reality once more."

"And you're not going to tell me what you think about that?"

"No."

Ruby considered her options again. "You already know what I'm going to do, don't you?"

"Yes."

Ruby glared at the goddess. Was this what talking to herself was like when she was looking into the future?

"And you're okay with it?"

"Yes, you shall bring conflict to where it needs to be."


	52. Chapter 8-5

"You don't need to worry about Blake and Yang." Ruby stared at Weiss, the sparkles in her eyes seeming to move erratically.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked very carefully.

"I'm going after them."

Weiss felt her heart beat much faster. Considering what Mars had said, there were a number of different ways she could take that. "What are you going to do to them?"

"I don't know." She laid a hand on Crescent Rose. "If they're still the Blake and Yang that I knew, then… they're good. If not…"

Weiss gulped. Yang had better not get herself cursed or taken over by a ghost when that happened. "They're going to be hunted."

"No, they won't," Ruby said without any inflection.

Weiss took a deep breath. Blake may be incredibly good at sneaking, but Yang wasn't. "Ruby, they're going to be hunted as Anathema until someone confirms the kill."

"No. They. Won't!" Ruby said again, talking down to Weiss as if she was a child. "I've made sure of it."

"Ruby," A chill ran up Weiss' spine. "What did you do?"

"I ended them," She said with a hint of happiness. "I made sure that there won't be any more investigations."

There were worse possibilities that Weiss had thought of, but not many. "How?"

* * *

"There is something else that you need to know before you set off." Mars pulled Ruby's chin up so that they were looking eye to eye. "A technique that would never occur to you without additional training."

"Are you going to almost kill me again?"

She chuckled. "Were I trying to kill you, you would be dead. Now that you have experienced such an attack, you will be forewarned of the sensation for the next time you are in such danger."

* * *

"I placed a curse that Mars taught me on them." Ruby turned to the window as the lights flickered. "As long as I maintain it, they won't be able to do their jobs."

"No." Weiss shook her head slightly. "Ruby, you can't do that."

"Yes, I can. I did."

"No, you need to stop it." Weiss stepped forward; Ruby didn't react. "I don't know how many people are going to die if you don't, but-"

"No. It's horrible and wrong and I'm ending it."

"Ruby! You're going to kill people!"

"People are dying anyway, because of the investigations and because I came back." Ruby let her head fall to the side and walked over to the broken window. "You know how everyone's always wondered if the gods have abandoned us?"

"It's a common sentiment."

"Well they have." Ruby growled with more venom than Weiss had ever heard from her. "We're not worth the resources to save."

From a cold, mathematical perspective, Weiss could understand that. If there really were other worlds with millions of people out there, then the return on investment for any given resource would be higher on a high population world that either didn't have the Grimm plaguing it, since Mars implied they weren't everywhere, or had them more under control.

There were other options someone could work towards which would be better for them, like minimizing suffering, but if they cared about getting something back, then it made sense. Just like the old SDC policy of only opening a new market when they could afford to undercut the competition until they were all driven out of business. It didn't matter to her father how many lives were ruined when he could raise the profit margin even higher. The only way to make that practice stop had been taking matters into her own hands.

Weiss forced a small smile onto her face. There had to be gods who were more compassionate than father was. "I'm sure there are ways that we could convince them we're worth investing in."

Ruby stared at her with a look of utter disbelief.

* * *

"There exists a deep corruption, a gambit of ancient enemies who have lost their grasp on what was once theirs, which may only be purged from without."

"From without?" Ruby sort of got what Mars meant, but not entirely. "Aren't I supposed to belong here?"

"While your soul may belong, your current mind does not. And, there are still others who could prove useful." Mars smiled in a way that made Ruby shiver. "You are unique in your position to turn those who would be our enemies from their masters."

* * *

"They shouldn't need to be convinced. They're supposed to be taking care of our world and instead they abandoned us!"

"Not everyone see things the same way you do!"

"Well maybe they should," Ruby sighed and turned away. "I thought you would be happy about this."

"Why would I be happy? You're wreaking havoc!" The lights flickered again, then died, as if to punctuate Weiss' statement.

"Because now you can take over." Ruby whispered, her face obscured by her bangs. "Isn't that what you've wanted all this time?"

Weiss grit her teeth. Taking over Beacon or the investigation committees had only crossed her mind a couple of times. It was such a crazy idea she hadn't even made plans for it. "No."

"Liar." She said in the same, even tone.

"I'm not lying."

"You're always lying."

"Ruby, I swear on whatever god or goddess you want, I don't want to do that."Weiss weighed her options for resolving this without hurting Ruby in some way; they felt nonexistent. If Ruby had been her normal self, then maybe there would be a chance. "But if you're going to make me do something I don't want to, then I'll begin with stopping this."

"What're you going to do? Attack me?" Ruby's eyes lazily drifted towards Myrtenaster. She didn't care about it at all.

 _Weiss formed a vision in her mind's eye of Ruby's belief about the investigations and twisted it, inverted it. Her partner believed that they did far more harm than good. She needed to think that they were a necessary evil for the good of all._

As the image finished being shaped, Weiss tied it to her words. " _You're-"_

 _Ruby was no more._ Weiss' words were only heard by herself.

Something round and cold pressed into the back of Weiss' neck.

"Don't do that again." Ruby growled from right behind her.

"You're going to-"

"Stop trying to control me!" Ruby snapped. "It's the worst thing that the Anathema can do to someone!"

"So you're accusing me of being Anathema as well?"

"I know you are." Ruby pressed barrel of what Weiss assumed was Crescent Rose in harder. "And I am too."

It felt like the bottom had fallen out of Weiss' stomach. Ruby thought they were as evil as Yang had, if not more. Was that where this madness had come from?

"You can either agree to stop trying to take over my mind or that's the end of this conversation."

"Fine, I won't do anything else like that." There were other methods she could use that were less obvious, but that might push Ruby too far.

The barrel pulled back. Weiss slowly turned around. It hadn't been Crescent Rose, Ruby was just using her finger to threaten Weiss.

"That's a relief." Weiss sighed. "I thought you were really-"

Ruby pointed her finger at something behind Weiss. "Bang."

A rope snapped. Weiss jerked her head around to see Ruby's bed swaying violently. A small bullet hole had appeared in the wall behind where the severed rope was.

"A gun that can't be taken back once you give it to someone. A gun that can kill a thousand people with one pull of the trigger." Ruby laughed. "Would you trust me with a gun like that, Weiss?"

Not right now she wouldn't. If Ruby had been her normal self, that would be a different story. "Of course I would."

"Liar." Ruby practically spat out the word.

"I'm not lying. I haven't for this entire conversation!" Weiss knew people would distrust her, it came with being a Schnee and having to deceive so many about her nature, but this was ridiculous!

Ruby stared at her, not blinking. "Prove it. How do you know about what happened to me?"

"I was in the tree above Pyrrha, just like your Uncle." Weiss held a slight smile. Something was very wrong with Ruby if she was willing to actually shoot her and she couldn't risk Ruby having also learned to detect lies if she wanted to get anywhere.

Ruby squinted, then looked away. "I wish Blake was here."

"That would be nice." If nothing else, Blake would be able to subdue Ruby without causing too much harm. Actually… "Ruby, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes. Better than ever." She replied, back to the unnaturally calm tone. The strain around her eyes was barely visible.

"Ruby, you're not well. You're not acting like yourself." Weiss had helped both Blake and Yang avoid what they had thought of as curses. If they invoked some being's displeasure, then terrible things would happen.

"I'm doing what I've wanted to do for months. I even have the permission of someone more cosmically important than anyone on Remnant."

They knew who Ruby's patron was, but none of them knew if she could affect Ruby in the same way. At the end of the fight, Ruby made her angry.

 _Weiss needed to tell her._

"Ruby," Weiss kept repeating her name to keep her here, to her remind of the the person who she was. "When you left with Mars, what did she do to you?"

"She did enough."

* * *

"Isn't it your job to stop this from happening? To stop me?"

"No, my Shieldbearer. My duty is to ensure that all strife occurs as it ought to and a storm has been brewing for some time. A grand conflict that will sweep through the streets of Yu Shan with its ferocity."

* * *

"I think that some part of her might be controlling you." It was risky, but she had to do something.

Ruby glared at Weiss and kept her finger raised.

"Do you remember our second trip to Vale, where we first fought the Anathema woman?"

"If Blake and Yang had listened, we would have won."

"Right," Weiss nodded. "You also remember how when the fight began, Yang shut down."

Ruby continued staring.

"Yang can be affected by another being, through what makes her Anathema. It's what did that to her, not the Anathema woman."

"So you lied to me then too."

"I lied to you because there was no other choice."

"You've lied to me since the day we met. You could have just talked to me."

"No, we couldn't. Not about this."

"Yes, you-"

"You were going to shoot Yang." Weiss interrupted. "If I hadn't hit you as hard as I could, you were going to convince yourself it was necessary, either by your own thoughts or the spell."

"I-" Ruby hesitated. "I don't think-"

"Would you bet her life on that? You're almost as bad as Nora in regards to the Anathema," Weiss continued pressing. "A month ago, you would've called a Hunt as soon as you found out!"

"I- She's my sister!"

"And you didn't accept that fact until I forced you to." And family bonds weren't very strong at all. Ruby may love Yang like Weiss did Winter, but Weiss also knew that Winter would end her if she went too far. Father may have said that family had priority over all others, but they both knew how much that meant to him when he disowned her.

Ruby went quiet until the lights came back on. The backup generators must have kicked in.

"Attention students!" A man shouted over the campus' speakers. "We are in the midst of an incredibly important emergency. All students please move to the classroom four-oh-one for a vote on next week's lunch menu-."

"What are you doing with the microphone?" A woman interrupted as the sirens began sounding.

"We must determine the students' favorite lunches!"

"No, students, please report to classroom five-sixteen for a review on the showers!"

"Four-oh-one!"

"Five-sixteen!"

The continuing argument would have been hilarious in its absurdity, if it wasn't so terrifying.

"I need to go." Ruby tried to walk to the door.

"Ruby, you're not thinking straight." Weiss stepped in the way. If she was right, then she couldn't let Ruby pass. They needed to figure out what helped Ruby undo whatever happened to her and if she left, then none of them would be able to find her again. "You need to stay until we figure this out."

"I'm leaving, Weiss." Ruby continued to walk, running into Weiss. "Get out of the way."

"Ruby," Weiss needed another argument, something which would get to her and make her stick around long enough to ride this out and get help. "Are you just going to abandon your friends? Leave without saying goodbye."

Ruby stopped pressing forward. "It doesn't matter, they won't remember me tomorrow."

"That's a lie. Jaune and Nora might, but I guarantee that Ren and Pyrrha will notice that you're missing."

"Shut up."

That got a reaction, it worked. "And your Uncle, what would he think? He wouldn't even know you came-"

"Weiss." Ruby stepped back, placing one hand on Crescent Rose.

"Ruby." Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster's handle. As soon as her hand touched it, something struck her fingers. It also hit her belt loop and her sword's pommel, sending it flying.

"Don't make me go through you." Ruby blinked several times, clearing moisture from her eyes, as she pulled her hand back from Crescent Rose. Her finger had been pointed to the side, but hit Weiss via an impossible shot anyway. Now, it was pointed at her head.

Weiss clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. If Ruby was willing to go that far, there was nothing more she could do to stop her. She couldn't force Ruby out of the spiral of destruction, because Ruby would shoot her. She couldn't win in a fight and hold her here until whatever madness had taken her ended. And she couldn't even guilt her into staying long enough. Weiss was helpless, powerless. The only option remaining was going to the administration, if they could even do anything through Ruby's curse. And she wasn't going to do that. "You're probably going to be hunted too after this."

"I know. It's not just going to be Hunters too. Heaven isn't going to be happy about me coming back."

What the hell happened if that was true?

It didn't really matter.

"Ruby," Weiss stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ruby. The best that she could do was try to mend the fissure she'd opened. "Please don't die. I know you don't trust me, but I'll do whatever I can to help."

"You could come with me. You could do something good and fight against this."

"I can't." No matter how much she wanted to, she had responsibilities. "There're too many people relying on me. And honestly, I'd only slow you down at this point."

She was the fifth best fighter in their class, easily within the top twenty at Beacon as a whole. That wouldn't be enough if Blake, Yang, and Ruby were going to be attacked by people who could challenge Pyrrha, let alone Ruby.

"Good bye, Weiss," Ruby said with an air of finality.

"No," Weiss shook her head. "I'll see you later, Ruby."

The words hung in the empty air. Ruby had disappeared from between Weiss's arms before a tear fell down her cheek.

Once more, she was alone...

* * *

"There exists within your world a being and a location of great importance. The being is the one who has created the creatures of your nightmares. The location is the gate to Yu Shan, by which you will return to us."

Ruby nodded, though there was no guarantee she was coming back.

"Both are familiar to some who are close to you."

Ruby grit her teeth, of course she wouldn't be told who those people were.

"Go forth, young Shieldbearer, for your family will be waiting for you when you return."

"What do you mean my family?"

Mars ignored her question, again. "Reach heaven through violence and you shall be enlightened."


	53. Chapter 8-6

A Curse of the Spear was held in Ruby's hand as she walked through the crowd of Hunters, unseen to all. With a touch, she attached the curse of cowardice against the Anathema to a man with a sniper-halberd. He was lazing about, eyes glazed over, thanks to the curse she'd placed on the investigation organization.

With her other hand, she placed a mirror of that one on a woman with a chain-axe. One by one, she went through them and made sure that they would falter in their horrific mission for the next month. Some had Auras which were too strong for her, but that was easily remedied by drawing on her own when she hummed a new curse into existence. This one would be of the Gauntlet and a mirror of the personal blessing that was resting above Crescent Rose.

With two more curses in place, she switched tactics. It wasn't enough to just stop them from doing bad things, she needed to encourage good ones too.

 _Ruby scanned the crowd, searching for someone who would fight against the system._ Her eyes were drawn to a boy, probably a recent graduate. He was as out of it as the others, absentmindedly flipping a throwing knife.

As she started humming a blessing of the Lightning Bolt, one which would push him towards overthrowing those he disliked, her scroll vibrated. Ruby pulled it out, letting the half formed blessing unravel.

Penny: Ruby! Are you alright?

Ruby: Penny? You can remember me?

Penny: Absolutely! Why wouldn't I?

After a moment, another message came in.

Penny: Are you alright?

Penny remembered her and was worried. She probably should be.

Several of her classmates were running around, begging the Hunters to do something. Their cries for help fell on deaf ears.

Ruby: I'm fine.

Penny: That's good!

A hunter who had been leaning against a tree fell to the ground, glassy eyes passing over Ruby.

Penny: Father thinks an Anathema is attacking.

Ruby paused, halfway through typing a response. What would Penny think if she told her the truth? Would she think that Ruby was a monster or would she understand why _it needed to happen?_

"Why aren't you doing anything?" a girl with a sword-whip shouted at an older woman who'd slumped down next to her rocket-hammer. Meanwhile, one of Professor Goodwitch's senior assistants seemed to be trying to polish a hole in one of her demonstration plates.

What would Professor Goodwitch think about this? She was the one who said that you sometimes didn't have any good choices and had to do things you thought were bad.

 _What would lead to Penny turning against those who controlled her?_

Ruby: He's right.

Penny: How do you know?

Ruby glanced at her own reflection. The mark was still there, but her glow had faded.

Ruby: I can see her.

Penny: !

Ruby: Don't worry, I'm safe. Where're you?

"Everyone, there's-" A Huntress ran into the crowd, brandishing a rifle. The curse ensnared her before the next words left her lips. As it wrapped around her body, the fire left her eyes. "Never mind."

That was how it went. As soon as one of the Hunters wanted to do their duty as investigators, they lost all will to act. Everyone in the kingdom of Vale would stop torturing and murdering innocent people.

Ruby sidestepped one of the teaching assistants charging with a stack of papers in hand. They trailed behind him as he continued, heedless of how much of his work would never make it to wherever he was bringing it. It was her second curse, placed on Beacon's staff, and had been much harder to perform despite affecting far fewer people.

Penny: Celik wants to get us out of here before the fighting starts.

Ruby took a deep breath. She didn't want Penny to get hurt, but she also needed to stop anyone from leaving Beacon. They'd called in a lot of older Hunters to go over how to kill Yang and many of them would probably want to do that if they weren't thinking of themselves as investigators.

Ruby: Where are you?

Penny: The hangar.

Ruby's hands shook as she held the scroll more tightly. That was where she'd planned to go next.

"Maybe I will see what Penny thinks about all this after all," Ruby mumbled, dropping her head. She formed the blessing in her offhand and tapped the boy who she'd caught sights of. If only she had the time to plan each of them out and make them work well together. There wouldn't need to be as much death and destruction if that was the case.

Ruby stepped away from him and continued on, slowly walking towards the hangar. With one hand, she began forming another simple curse; with the other, she began weaving Penny's blessing. She pushed more energy from her Aura into that one. Penny deserved something good.

A door burst open, slamming into the wall hard enough to make the windows rattle. Professor Goodwitch marched out of it with soot covering her shirt. A whirlwind of crystal fragments rotated around her, along with a flaming sword. The light of the flames passed through the crystals, forming shafts of blinding light in whatever direction Professor Goodwitch wasn't looking. It was an advanced defensive spell formation that she'd shown off in their class's battlefield sorcery demonstration.

"Professor!" Three students in their pajamas ran up to her. "What's happening?"

"We're under attack from an unknown source." Professor Goodwitch pressed on, eyes flicking across the grounds. She passed over Ruby once, before stopping. Her brow furrowed as she stared right at Ruby. "Miss Rose, are you ready for battle?"

"Who are you talking to?" The other students looked back and forth, eyes passing over Ruby without any reaction to her.

Ruby froze. How was this happening? Not only should she be stuck by the curse twice over, but also not able to see Ruby. That technique made her invisible to anyone who thought of themselves as better than her.

"Yeah," Ruby answered softly, listening to the different patterns rotating around Professor Goodwitch carefully. Both curses were still there, but they didn't seem to be doing anything. How? She shouldn't be able to act either as a Beacon Staff member or investigator!

"Please come with me. We'll need as much help as we can." She turned toward the main tower. "Ozpin is rallying everyone who can function in the main auditorium."

Professor Goodwitch always used people's titles. Was this her acting as a Huntress then? Ruby supposed it could happen, but it didn't make any sense because the other two jobs should be more important and people can't just control their thoughts that way.

"She's gone crazy too, all of them have," one of the students whispered to the others.

Ruby sent a final message on her scroll and slipped it into her belt pouch.

Ruby: I'll talk to you later.

"Whoever's causing this is likely still on campus, lying in wait. If I'm correct, then we don't have much time before the Grimm arrive and they make their move." Professor Goodwitch looked to the sky. "There may be many varieties you've never heard of before."

"That would be bad." Ruby looked up as well. It was too dark to see anything approaching, but that was the biggest reason why Ruby needed to finish fast. If she dropped the curse on Beacon, then they'd be able to stop her before she finished. But, if she didn't, then everyone would be devoured. _It also wouldn't make them really understand the power they were fighting against._

"You're one of the most talented mechanists that we have and don't seem to be affected by whatever spell has ensnared the others." She pointed at the building she just left. "I had to subdue the other technicians who were busy 'testing' the secondary generators and nearly broke them. If you could take a look, it would be appreciated."

Why wasn't she just telling Ruby to do something? She was a student here and Professor Goodwitch was one of the professors that they were supposed to listen to in a crisis. She should be commanding, not asking!

"Miss Rose?" Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow after a moment. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Ruby could say yes, she could just pretend to go along with the request, _but that wouldn't make the fight that needed to occur happen._ Professor Goodwitch had always tried to explain away just how horrible the things she allowed were. She needed to confront it. "And no, I won't help fix something that I broke."

Professor Goodwitch's eyes widened. "What?"

Ruby released her invisibility technique. The students surrounding them gasped.

"I'm doing something that should have happened a long time ago." Ruby placed a hand on Crescent Rose and pulsed her Aura, forcing her red light to glow brighter. "Ending the investigation and the Anathema hunts."

Professor Goodwitch glanced at the students and frowned. "I thought that you wanted to be a Huntress."

"I am a Huntress, a real Huntress," Ruby snarled. "Not someone who calls themselves that only to torture and murder people when no one's watching."

"No Huntress would do this." The shards violently spun, illuminating all of the people who were still disabled by the curse. "You've robbed them of their ability to function!"

"There are times when there are no good choices and you need to take the least bad option." Ruby threw her own words from so long ago back at her.

Professor Goodwitch glared at her. "There are many other choices that you can still make."

"None that would do what I want."

"And what is it that you want?"

"I want the people who are supposed to be heroes to act like it. I want our world to be safe and fixed." Ruby could taste it in the air now, the foul energy and decay. Compared to the sweet air of the city of the gods, it made her nauseous. It was also what she'd been missing this entire time, the source of the constant that she needed to insert into all of the astrological formulas. "And I want my sister back."

"And how will doing this help you achieve any of your goals?" She circled the shards slowly, making the others slowly step back.

"It'll stop you from killing her."

"Your sister is no more. The Anathema has-"

"That's a lie!" Ruby shouted, making Professor Goodwitch step back. She waved an arm to the crowd. "The Anathema aren't monsters and you're no Hero for killing them."

One by one, the scrolls came out, their cameras pointed at her.

Ruby turned, looking at the crowd. She made sure to keep Professor Goodwitch in sight the entire time. "You may not remember me, but I know all of you. We've eaten at the same lunch hall, learned how to fight, and slept through Professor Port's boring lectures."

The last one got a couple of chuckles.

"Like you, I thought that the Anathema were horrible demons that would kill us all. I thought that they would turn me into a slave with a word. And I was wrong.

"They're just people, our friends and family, and for all of these years they've"- she pointed to Professor Goodwitch -"been killing them for no good reason. Yes, the Anathema are stronger than the rest of us. Yes, they wield terrifying power. But so do we. Any one of us could kill hundreds of people who don't have their Auras unlocked."

The crowd muttered to themselves while she waited.

"Who is she?"

"She looks familiar, but…"

"Wait, isn't she that freshman? The one whose sister…"

Ruby dropped her head, but pushed more force into her voice with her Aura. "People have wondered where the Anathema come from, how they gained their power. I know the truth. It was forced on them by the gods in heaven, the very same gods who've abandoned us!"

It drew another gasp from the crowd, and a pulse from the curse around the professor. She tried to step forward, but the strands of Fate ensnared her and robbed her of her energy. A moment later, she was back to normal.

"I was chosen by the goddess Mars, the Maiden of Battles." Ruby looked up again, swiping her bangs to the side so that the sigil was obvious. "She never asked me if I wanted that responsibility; she just gave it to me and told me that I was supposed to abandon you like she did. But I didn't, I came back because you deserve to know the truth!"

Again she pointed to the professor. "Not only the truth that they've hidden from all of you, but also the horrible truth that no one else could tell you."

The scared, disbelieving eyes were all on her.

"Despite what the world thinks, they're not just teachers and headmasters. The leaders of our schools have been lying to us about the dangers they use us to fight against." _Ruby released the power of a blessing she'd made for herself. Her voice rang out loud and clear, forcing many of them to step back._ "The Anathema aren't demons. They're our friends and family. They had no choice about what happened to them, about the power forced on them by the other gods. And all this time the people who should be protecting us, should be teaching us, knew. They've been deceiving us and murdering Heroes who had no choice about what they became."

What felt like hundreds of eyes looked from Ruby to Professor Goodwitch. Once more, the curse stopped her from responding.

"If it takes this many Hunters"- Ruby waved an arm at all of the people still slumped over -"to kill two teenage girls, then what do you think those girls could do against the Grimm? We already know that certain types of energy are more effective against them. Someone blessed by the Sun or the Moon would tear through more than anyone could imagine. We could push past the walls and take back our world!"

The source of familiar Auras greeted her. Ruby's eyes met Jaune's, Ren's, and Nora's in order. The fear that surrounded them was almost visible.

' _I'm sorry.'_ Ruby mouthed the words at her friends. This wouldn't be easy for them; it would probably give Nora nightmares for weeks. They might hate her for doing it, but the seeds needed to be planted.

"Many Anathema apologists have claimed that the gods spoke to them, claimed that the Anathema should be saved because they were chosen by the gods." Professor Goodwitch found her voice again.

"You can ask Uncle Qrow whenever he gets back. He saw everything." Ruby crossed her arms. "So did Weiss… and Pyrrha. They'll back me up."

Nora clapped her hands over her mouth.

"I'm sure we'll have a great deal to talk about." Professor Goodwitch moved a finger and pushed her glasses up with her Semblance. "But that doesn't change the fact that you need to stop whatever it is you've done."

"No." Ruby shook her head. "I'm not going to let them kill people ever again."

"Ruby, please see reason. Even if there might be Anathema who could be trusted, there are far more who will destroy the world that you wish to save," she pleaded. "Don't do this."

Ruby tensed her muscles and settled into her knees. _This was the conflict that Mars had told her about, the fight she needed to cause._ Somehow, she had the feeling that no matter what she'd chosen, it would further Mars' plan. But at least this was something that needed to happen anyway. "Weiss couldn't convince me to stop; why do you think you'd be able to?"

Professor Goodwitch took a deep breath. "Will it end if you were rendered unconscious?"

"No, it won't stop until I allow it to."

"I see." Her Aura began swirling around her. "That is most unfortunate."

"That's it then? You're just going to kill me?"

"You set yourself upon this path, despite knowing where it would lead." She closed her eyes and sighed. "It didn't have to be like this."

"No, you could have done what's right." Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose. "You could've helped me earlier, before this had to happen."

"You held the potential to become the greatest Huntress of your generation. You would have become a beacon of light in the darkness that surrounds us."

"I never wanted to be the greatest Huntress; I just wanted to help people."

"You still can do that." She commanded, "Release the spell that you placed on Beacon."

Ruby held the barrel of her weapon behind her. "No."

"Then so be it." The shards pulled closer to her and formed a blinding wall of light. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Anathema woman's spell.

Professor Goodwitch, the combat teacher, was arguably the best fighter at Beacon. Defeating her would show to the rest of the campus how serious Ruby was and how much more could be done. It would serve as an example, just like Weiss beating team CRDL had. She was blessed by Mars. Weiss, Blake, and Yang were all supposed to be stronger than her, so if she could take Goodwitch's best attacks, that should prove her point.

It would also mean that any repairs would take longer while she recovered and delay the Hunt for Yang even more.

"O' winds of calamity," Professor Goodwitch chanted in the language of the gods as she gathered energy.

"Wait… How do you know that language?" Ruby gasped. Professor Goodwitch's pronunciation inflection was all wrong, but her words still made sense.

"Descend from on high and unleash your raucous warning upon my foes." The energy formed a sphere of deafening power in front of her mouth. "Howl!"

The hair on Ruby's neck stood on end as the air around her electrified.

On second thought, maybe acting like Yang and just taking the hit was a bad idea.

 _Ruby stepped between the strings of the world as a hammer from the heavens smashing into the ground. A vortex of heavy sound shattered the tiles, turning them to dust._

She reappeared in the middle of the cloud, unaffected by the blast. A wave of fear erupted from the crowd, but Ruby couldn't care about that right now, because another spell was on the Professor's lips.


	54. Chapter 8-7

Earth Dust swirled around Professor Goodwitch, forming a ball in her left hand. It twisted, warped, and extended, until it became a silver chain that was lined with vicious barbs. She held it tightly, waiting for Ruby to make a move.

Ruby held herself back, crouching so that the dust from the professor's last attack covered half of her body. She didn't know what that spell did, but her other defenses would make any attack risky. The crystals which had rotated around her had shattered and dispersed, shooting blinding shafts of light in Ruby's direction. The orb of flames hovered between them, a couple of feet away from Professor Goodwitch. Even assuming that Ruby got past both of them, she'd still need to deal with the professor's Semblance.

She raised Crescent Rose to her shoulder and fired. The orb fanned out into a shield, burning the bullet away. Two more shots failed to get past it before she stopped. There was no point in wasting ammo.

The wind picked up, making her cloak billow and scatter rose petals toward the crowd of students. The group parted so they could pass through without touching anyone. As Ruby swept Crescent Rose around, they flinched back from the barrel when it passed by. If she remembered how that spell worked in class, then it couldn't defend up close right now.

 _Ruby fired her weapon and ran along the path of violence._

She reappeared behind Professor Goodwitch in mid swing, the blade inches away from striking home. An unseen force, the professor's Semblance, smacked the blade down so that she could vault over it. In the same motion, she released the chain.

The air cracked as it shot towards Ruby's neck. _It was an attack she couldn't risk getting hit by; so, she forced herself between the strands of Fate again. The world inverted itself as Ruby reappeared above her._

She continued her swing on pure momentum, scoring a glancing hit. Ruby caught her fall with a single hand, pushed off of it, _and took every option for her follow up._ Four Rubys each took a different path on the attack. Two of their scythes bit into Professor Goodwitch's Aura, but none struck a telling blow.

The professor jumped back as she began casting again. She could've stepped forward and used any of her martial arts or directly attacked with her Semblance, but that would have meant giving up the greatest strength of Sorcery, Aura conservation.

Every time Ruby flashed forward, dodged a spell, or went in for a strike, it used up some of her Aura. Even though it came back quickly, she was still spending more than she recovered just to keep up. In a normal fight, she wouldn't need to use Aura to speed her attacks up, but her opponent didn't allow her that luxury. Between the blinding lights of the crystals, the unseen force altering Ruby's movements, and the raw difference in skill, Professor Goodwitch was too good at protecting herself for an unenhanced strike to have any chance of connecting.

It was like fighting the Anathema woman again, or Mars early on, an opponent who was just a little bit better than Ruby was. But, Ruby also couldn't defend against the massive blasts or spiked chains without her new technique. Each took time to cast, but it also used up all of the Aura Ruby'd recovered since the last one. Meanwhile, Professor Goodwitch was always recovering hers, without needing to spend any to cast more spells.

Even so, Ruby could tell that she was slowly whittling her down. She could force Professor Goodwitch to take longer between casts by changing her own position. If the spell was the chain, she'd stick to the ground because of all of the students who would be hit if it missed. If it was the blast, she took to the sky appearing above the professor until she managed to retreat enough to fire. In the blasted and broken courtyard, she would eventually win.

However, it was taking too long. Ruby needed a solution that would end the fight before she was too late to stop Penny's ship.

And, much like everything else that happened, she'd been given her answer not even an hour ago when she was fighting Mars.

'You fight like a mortal.' The critique echoed in Ruby's head. That was it: fighting like a god, like someone whose body had no limit.

Ruby closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the world. She could hear-no _feel-_ each of the bolts of power that shot toward her. The air near her skin warmed as the attack passed by, missing by fractions of an inch as she shifted her steps ever so slightly to avoid them. The final one she allowed to connect. It punched into her shoulder, forcing her body to spin.

Ruby spun with the blow, forcing her weapon into a wild arc. _At the point where it was going the fastest, she stepped along the threads again. At the end, she was parallel to the ground with Crescent Rose swinging so quickly the air cracked._

She opened her eyes again to watch Professor Goodwitch fly over the crowd, tumbling through the air from the severity of the hit. Mid-rotation, Ruby pointed her finger at the woman _and traced a path of violence through her._

Professor Goodwitch slammed into the wall, shattering the cement. Moments later, Ruby's finger-bullets connected, one right after the other. The shield blocked the first two, her Aura the third, but the fourth and fifth hit home. She fell to the ground with her shirt and tights slowly being stained red.

Ruby landed with her finger still pointed at Professor Goodwitch. Though, she really didn't need to. That hit had broken her Aura and the shot to the leg meant she had no hope of dodging another attack. She could barely pick herself up, using the wall as a support so that she could stand.

"It's over," Ruby said as she switched Crescent Rose to rifle mode.

"N-no," Professor Goodwitch said between shaky coughs.

"You can barely stand."

"This is _not_ a classroom, Miss Rose. It is not a tournament fight. You've threatened both my students and my Kingdom. This fight ends when one of us is unable to continue." She stepped back to both feet, eyes quickly looking over the battlefield. Everyone else had cleared away from it. "O' winds of calamity."

"You can't!" Ruby shouted, raising her weapon. She could stop the spell by shooting again, but… She'd need to fire as many times as she could to get past the shield. And even if she didn't… Crescent Rose was designed to pack as much power in a portable weapon as Ruby could. One round from it would kill her. So would any real melee hit.

"Howl!"

 _Ruby stepped outside of reality to dodge the blast._

Professor Goodwitch panted several times, her face slick with sweat. She gulped when Ruby reappeared and continued. "O' winds of calamity."

"Stop it!" _Ruby was forced to cease existing again._ When she returned, her Aura blazed so brightly that all of the faces around them were clearly illuminated.

"If this is your choice, Ruby, then you will need to take many more lives than mine." Professor Goodwitch's voice was as cold as ice. "O' winds of calamity."

Ruby looked at her hands. Could she do that? Even though Professor Goodwitch killed people in the investigations, she was a good person. She was someone who protected people from the monsters of the world and also wanted to reform the terrible system she took part in. She didn't deserve to die for it _and would need to stay alive for what would come next._

Could the finger-gun do it, disable her without killing? Ruby hadn't had any time to practice with it, but it felt about as strong as a normal rifle and there was nowhere she could shoot that couldn't be lethal, especially when she'd need to fire a lot to get past the fire guardian.

 _She stepped through the strands again._

When Ruby reappeared, her salvation was flying towards her. A long branch had been broken by the spell. She swiped at it three times with Crescent Rose, creating a makeshift staff out of it.

"O' winds-" The next incantation was cut off by a strike to the gut. It sounded dull and meaty, not at all like what Ruby was used to when she hit someone. A second blow stopped her from continuing it.

Professor Goodwitch doubled over, gasping for air. "No matter what you may think, killing a fellow human is never easy, especially when you're in the wrong."

"I'm not wrong."

"Then why are you hesitating?" She started forming another spell.

Ruby cracked the side of her head with the staff, knocking her to the ground and breaking her glasses. "Stop trying to cast more spells! Just… Stop."

"How?" Professor Goodwitch groaned, her eyes fluttering back open. She looked back and forth slowly, not focusing on anything. But her spell was still going.

One more hit finally stopped it. Now she could-

 _There was danger from behind!_

Ruby spun around just in time to block the first shot. The bullet sunk into the wood, causing a crack to form in the center. The second shot shattered her weapon, but didn't connect. The third smashed into her shoulder, the bullet bouncing off of her Aura.

She jumped back to avoid the rest of the wild firing.

"Glynda!" The man in a white coat continued charging forward, firing at her. With Crescent Rose in hand, none of them came close to hitting her.

Ruby listened to him carefully as he slowed down. Half of his body had its own internal energy moving around. A brief listen proved that it was artificial due to the sound of the servos whirring, along with something that she'd never heard before and definitely didn't like. Something he had, that rested above his heart, was screeching and angry. It was like the unholy combination of nails being dragged down a chalkboard and a baby screaming while that song Weiss seemed to love played in the background.

Ruby retched and focused her mind. She couldn't afford to stop listening to the sounds of the world, but she needed to push that one out of it.

Besides his horrible sounding thing, the man also looked very familiar, but she couldn't figure out from where. Was he her husband? The way he was acting would make that make sense, throwing himself into a hopeless fight… Unless he was also a senior Hunter.

Ruby checked his outfit and gun again. The latter was clearly an Atlas model, but that didn't prove anything about where he was from.

"James?" Professor Goodwitch mumbled. "Why are you still here?"

"One of your technicians damaged the hangar doors. We need your help to fix them."

"Ahh."

"And I couldn't abandon Vale when she's in need."

That was it, Ruby remembered where she'd seen him before. He was General James Ironwood, the leader of Atlas Academy and the man who did a lot of the new Atlas military tech announcements.

If he was hurt here, it might cause a war between Vale and Atlas. _A war would make them even more distracted from hunting Anathema._

He glanced at Ruby, eyes cold. "What happened?"

"She's decided that the Anathema aren't all bad and that she's stopping us."

"That's-"

"Ironic, I know."

"The investigations need to end," Ruby cut in, raising Crescent Rose. "Are you going to try and stop me too?"

He stared at her and flipped a switch on the side of his gun. It quickly transformed. The barrel widened and extended, and so did the handle. The plates of metal were so thin that it would've surely broken on the first shot without a powerful Aura holding it together, similar to Crescent Rose's design.

He swapped the magazine with a practiced motion, eyes never leaving her, and took aim.

"James… Help me up." Professor Goodwitch held a hand out, arm wavering.

"You're in no condition to continue fighting."

"You can't beat her by yourself and I can still cast."

Ruby grit her teeth as he snapped a shot off.

A huge Dust round flew towards her. It wasn't just a gun, it was also a mini rocket-launcher... That was so cool!

The rocket was slower than a normal bullet, easy to parry, but as soon as it touched Crescent Rose, it exploded. Red hot flames licked her Aura and obscured her vision. The fire roared around her, spiraling so that the heat would stick around longer and burn even more of her Aura.

That round must've cost a fortune.

By the time she could see again, Professor Goodwitch was on her feet and casting another spell.

Another, incredibly expensive rocket was in the air, this one gravity Dust. Ruby fired Crescent Rose to change her path, dodge the bullet. But, instead of continuing past her, it blew up in mid air and yanked her into another fire shot.

 _She stepped outside of reality again._ The first shot had burned through almost as much Aura as the technique did, and doing this, would let her hit back.

 _Ruby reappeared directly above them, splitting into four._ They fell as one onto him, three blades clashing against steel. The fourth Ruby hit the ground in a roll, lashing out _with an attack that would meet her goals._

Crescent Rose's blade struck so fast it tore through his Aura and bit into the inside of his elbow. The rocket-gun went flying, but he reacted instantly. A solid punch caught Ruby in the side of the face, spiraling her away from him.

She slammed Crescent Rose into the ground, spun around it, and hit her other target with both feet. All of the force of his attack was transferred into Professor Goodwitch, knocking her down and stopping whatever she was about to cast.

He drew another gun from his jacket, a gun that made Ruby's hair stand on end and her entire body tense up. It was the horrible sounding thing and now it was assaulting her ears directly.

A headache was already forming when he fired it. A pair of darts flew at her, their points glinting menacingly in her red glow. That metal was the source of the sound and she could not let it touch her.

 _Ruby tried to step outside of the world. But she couldn't push through._ She was out of Aura.

Her heart skipped a beat, she didn't have enough Aura left to do it. That hadn't happened since she received her 'blessing'.

She tried to move, tried to do anything to get out of the way, but she was too late. The horrible, awful, disgusting metal pierced what remained of her Aura like it wasn't there and sank into her chest. And a pain the likes of which she'd never felt before overcame her.

Her skin burned, her muscles clenched, her soul itself writhed in agony as white-hot pain shot through every fiber of her being.

She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She could barely even think.

And even worse, she knew what it was now. That unnatural metal was a soul. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but she could clearly hear the screams of a child in agony ringing from every surface of it.

"...prototype… left me with no other…" He was saying something to Professor Goodwitch as Ruby fell to the ground, arms spasming. She could barely make out the words. "...as the screws… pierce Aura… incapacitate through pain and…"

Professor Goodwitch's rolled her eyes as he picked up his other gun, leaving the terror gun with her. How could they just ignore this? Were they really that evil?

Ruby needed to do something. They were going to kill her and she couldn't fight back.

She strained until her muscles burned even hotter, but they didn't move.

She reached for her Aura, but it had broke. It was gone…

No, it was back.

That wasn't supposed to happen. Once your Aura broke, it was gone until you had enough time to rest. Hers had just immediately recovered.

But even that didn't help her.

The darts drank everything that she pushed at them, greedily devouring her blood and her soul. Bit by bit they tore away not only her only hope of salvation, but her very being as well.

Her mind raced. What could she do? They were stuck inside of her and there was no way to remove them!

She saw her hand spasming, briefly forming the right gesture. There was a way.

Ruby forced her mind to calm down and listened to the world around herself. There was a way out, she just needed to find it.

 _She traced the fastest path from her fingers to the prongs and fired a bullet from her soul. The round bounced off of General Ironwood's boot, Jaune's shield, a stone that was falling off the roof, and her own face. A second pain blossomed on her cheek as blood sprayed in front of her eyes, but the darts were gone._

Ruby still had Crescent Rose in hand, her knuckles cramping from the death-grip that she'd had on it. She had just enough Aura left for another strike, _a final blow that would end this before it went any further._

She didn't bother aiming or even looking at her target. She just put her faith in the Fated Path that she would force into being.

Ruby swung with all of her strength, boosting it further with every last drop of power she could call upon. _The Starmetal blade glowed bright red in the split second before it hit General Ironwood's prosthetic arm, and severed it at the wrist._

He gasped, a girl screamed, and Ruby stood up.

She raised Crescent Rose high above her head, growling between her teeth. "That is the most vile thing I've ever heard. Whatever you're doing, wherever you made it, I'm going to find that place and destroy it. I'll destroy every single note you have of how to make it and-"

She could still hear it, screaming from right under her collarbone. "Oh god, it's still inside me."

"What're you talking about?" He glanced at the fallen gun, but didn't move toward it.

Ruby didn't have the time to fix that now, but just knowing about it made her sick. She picked a piece of shrapnel from her shirt, cringing when her bare hands touched it, and threw it to the ground in front of him. "That! Where did you make that? Who did you kill to do it?!"

"It's just metal, no one-"

"That isn't metal, it's the soul of a crying child!" Ruby screamed, red light appearing on the inside of Crescent Rose's blade again. "Tell me now or-"

"Ruby, stop!" Jaune shouted from behind her as a wave of fire shot overhead. Of course, this would be the first time he remembered her.

Ruby slowly turned her head, the crowd flinching back when her eyes passed over them. Jaune had his sword and shield drawn, but not ready. His stance was wide, off balance, and his grip weak. She wouldn't even need to use her Aura to knock him back if it came down to it.

"Jaune," she said plainly, "neither of them could stop me."

"I-" He glanced back at his teammates. "Well... I can't stop you, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stop."

"Were you paying attention to anything I've said?"

"Have you?!" he shouted. "You've been yelling about them not being Heroes and you saving people, but all you've been doing is hurting."

"I'm stopping all of the torture and killing." Ruby stepped towards him. "I'm saving Blake and Yang's lives and am going to stop Atlas from killing kids."

"Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"

"I-" Ruby sputtered at a loss for words. How did he not get this?

"Why would Atlas do something like that? It doesn't make any sense. Why would you even think that?"

"Because the darts he shot me with are screaming?" Ruby picked up another piece and threw it at Jaune. "Can't you hear how hurt he sounds?"

He looked at it, not reacting at all to how horrible it was. "Hear what?"

Ruby could clearly make out that piece, even though the rest of it was making her temples pound. For a moment, she let herself become deaf to the energy around her… and the screaming stopped.

"They can't hear it..." she whispered to herself, before turning back to General Ironwood. "You can't hear it, can you?"

"No." He shook his head. "There's nothing to hear and we didn't make this."

If he was telling the truth… then she shouldn't be mad at them about it. _But if he wasn't, then how deep did Atlas' corruption go?_

"Ruby, please," Jaune pleaded. "Just calm down and stop all of this."

"I can't… Even if I was wrong about that, I need to keep Blake and Yang safe."

"Safe from what?"

"From them!" She pointed at Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood, then the other Hunters who were still paralyzed by the curse. "Or them, or them, or them!"

Jaune shook his head and clenched his teeth. "None of this is needed to protect them."

"Yes, it is. They've been preparing for their Hunt all week."

"No one would be dumb enough to go through with that now."

"What?"

"I said, no one would be-"

"I heard what you said, but it doesn't make any sense. Blake and Yang are Anathema; they kill Anathema."

"And they'd be stupid to even try it."

Ruby raised an eyebrow and gave him a look.

"Ruby, do you have any idea how scary you are?" Nora mumbled, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"What're you talking about?"

"How can-" Jaune was cut off by Ren grabbing his shoulder and shaking his head.

"You just beat one of the best Hunters at Beacon," Ren said without meeting her eyes. "And you were toying with her the entire time. Nothing she did touched you and when her Aura broke, you continued to beat her until she needed help standing up."

"That's not-" Ruby stopped arguing when she thought about how that fight might've looked to someone who didn't know how close she'd come to losing… Or who couldn't hear Aura.

"You took away everyone else's will," Ren continued, looking at the Hunters. "All to save the demon masquerading as your sister."

"Yang's not a demon, the anathema are people and-" Ruby could see that it wasn't getting through to them. "And they could always chose to stop thinking about hunting Anathema if they want to do something else. All I did was keep them from doing that, they're free to choose anything else."

"And that makes it better? That makes it different from when we were controlled?" Nora snapped at her.

"I-" Ruby was at a loss for words.

"All she could do was control the people of our village and even that took time." Ren closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But you can force all of the hunters in Vale to bend to your will."

"And… the worst part is, we're all going to forget about this. No matter what you do, no matter who you hurt, we're going to forget about it and you can just walk away from it." Nora grew louder with each word. "You could just vanish again, become invisible, and everyone would forget how you betrayed us."

"Nora, I'm-"

"Shut up!" She raised her hammer high in the air. "I don't- I can't know if you can do what she did too, control people with your voice."

"We know we can't win against a monster like you." Jaune raised his shield. "But, we're not going to let you hurt anyone else and if the Ruby we know is still in there, then please, stop this."

Ruby shivered at Jaune's tone, at the looks of betrayal from her friends. Why would they do this? She wasn't a monster. She was just trying to make things better. _This needed to happen and-_

She caught sight of the others surrounding her. Of the shivering bodies and hands clenched so tightly that their knuckles had turned white. Her classmates were looking at her with wide eyes that flinched away whenever she looked at them. Their muscles were so tense she could make out the veins in their necks.

Ruby glanced to the side, to the shattered pathways, fallen trees, and broken lamps from all of the spells. She would have been pulped if one of those connected, but had never been at risk. Could any of her classmates have done that? Could her Uncle Qrow have? What did they think when she walked out of each blast, seemingly unscathed?

The fight... it had needed to happen, didn't it? It was important. She had to do it to save Blake and Yang, didn't she?

Ruby listened to Professor Goodwitch's Aura, it was calm, normal. She'd either given up or passed out.

Hurting her that badly was the only way to make her stop… It had to be. The investigations needed to be stopped and anything justified… They were evil and Heroes fought...

A chill wind blew, catching her cloak. Rose petals flew from it as it billowed behind her. When they got close to her classmates, they dove for cover.

Heroes didn't make people react like that. They didn't threaten their friends or ignore their worries. They didn't beat their teachers within an inch of their lives or curse kingdoms. They didn't think that starting a war would be fine. And they certainly didn't let their own righteousness control them to the point of almost killing someone.

Ruby was a monster... and she hadn't even realized it.

Her breath caught in her throat. Was this what Yang felt like whenever Ruby had ranted about the Anathema? Her friend's eyes were like daggers, stabbing her in the heart. Was this how much her own words had hurt her sister?

She glanced at Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood. If she'd been trying to kill them, she could've at any point in that fight. It was so hard to not kill Professor Goodwitch after her Aura broke… and Ruby's had come back almost instantly. A weapon that would've incapacitated any normal Hunter was a minor problem for her.

Was this why Blake was always holding back so much?

Was this why Yang tried to push everyone else away?

If the best Hunters of their generation were that easy to beat, just how fragile was everyone else? How easy would it be for her to topple a kingdom? Or take one over?

It wouldn't be that hard, now that she thought about it. All she'd need to do was stop the right groups from doing their jobs.

She'd just accused Weiss of wanting to do that, but Weiss hadn't. Weiss could've controlled everyone around her, like she did in the cafeteria, but she didn't. She resisted the temptation…

Ruby looked at Jaune again. She'd freaked out about something that only she could hear, raved like a mad girl who was looking for another reason to hurt people. No one here would believe her about anything else she said now, not without her forcing them to… Just like she hadn't believed Weiss about anything she'd said.

…

Ruby looked at Jaune again. "I-"

Nora flinched, raising Magnhild in a defensive stance.

"I'm sorry," Ruby sputtered, trying to keep herself in control. "I'm… I'm so sorry, but I…"

 _She released the curse on Beacon._

"You're right… but, you also don't know what I do and I don't have enough time to explain it all."

She could release the curse on the investigations, but that needed to stay. They were wrong and she needed to make sure this fight wasn't completely pointless, that the pain she couldn't take back had a reason to exist.

She was a terror now, she was the villain for all of them, and if she let it go before she found Blake and Yang… She didn't know what they would do, but she couldn't risk her team getting hurt. They, all four of them, needed to come together again and make it right, make all of this worth it.

"You should talk to Pyrrha and Weiss." Ruby tried to blink the tears away. Monsters didn't cry. "I'm going to go now."

She didn't wait for them to respond. No matter how they reacted, it would be too painful.

Instead, she flew away as a cloud of petals.


	55. Chapter 8-i

_Fire… Fire and pain were all that she could feel._

 _A single spark lit upon her hand and ran up her arm. It burned long, burned deep, made her skin blister. The flames stopped just below the elbow, consuming everything in their unquenchable thirst._

 _They burned hotter and hotter, filling the air with embers and smoke._

 _In time, the heat became too much, her throat igniting as well._

Cinder threw herself from her bed with the sick tearing of flesh and a wordless scream. Her new arm, its form as dark as the bodies of the Grimm with white spines extending from every surface, had formed a mouth and bitten into her thigh… again.

She growled and clenched her teeth, forcing her rage into the creature. It growled back, teeth grinding along each other. The stump of her arm burned as they bit into it, moving through the creature, but slowly, surely, they disappeared. It formed into a long, thin, but almost completely human arm. Though it only had three fingers and a thumb.

With another thought, the nails extended into claws that could slice stone. Claws that would take the life of the girl who had done this to her. Adam was dead and the White Fang knew her to be a traitor. She no longer needed to worry about what he thought.

Heavy footsteps sounded from the hallway outside. They were slow, powerful. It was likely Hazel, coming to 'check up' on her again. Cinder's Grimm arm growled, fangs reappearing as it split down the middle. With another forceful thought, the hand returned to having fingers rather than a mouth.

As the footsteps grew closer, Cinder glowered at the door. Someday, she would burn that condescending look off of his face, but there was nothing she could do right now.

They grew louder and louder, until the door was kicked in by Mercury carrying a tray. The smug smirk that he normally wore was especially prominent today.

He flinched back as soon as he saw her. He also stopped stepping so heavily.

"Uhh… Breakfast?" The boy's grin shifted to a stupid smile. He was smart enough to recognize his mistake. She wouldn't have kept him around so long if he wasn't.

Cinder's glare held him in place for nearly a minute, stopping only when the itching around her neck became too much to bear. She motioned for him to approach as she raised the arm, an additional elbow forming in the middle of what should be her forearm. She pressed the extra elbow against her throat, slightly soothing it. It was nothing compared to what fingers could relieve, but she wasn't about to risk its nails turning into talons and reopening her wound to the air.

He delivered the tray. Her meal was the bright red oats and black fruit native to this continent that all of them ate.

"Emerald'll be by soon. She's a little tied up right now." Mercury backed away, leaving her with a cooling bowl that she lacked the dexterity to actually eat.

Cinder lowered her head and allowed her Aura to bleed through her eyes.

Mercury stepped back. "I'll be right back."

He failed to closed the door behind him, his footsteps miraculously light as he left. While Mercury was one of her most dependable assets, he also required a great deal of handling. Without others to torment, to hurt, he rapidly approached the boundaries of his position.

A chill breeze swept through the room, but she was fine, because the Mantle of the Fall Maiden burned within her. It infused her, permeated every fiber of her being, and smoldered with a wonderful heat. A hunger that would not be sated until she acquired the rest of it. She drew on the power, rolling heated air over her tongue, and blew a stream of flames onto her bowl.

"Very good," the voice of Lady Salem, Architect of Horror, Fell Queen of the Grimm, the true Goddess of Remnant, echoed from the doorway.

Cinder immediately bowed her head. She should have noticed her mistress's approach.

"Rise." Her Majesty glided into the room. As she approached the Grimm arm tried to shrink down, bowing to its Queen. "How is your control progressing?"

Cinder forced the arm to raise and spread its fingers.

Her mistress narrowed her eyes. Cinder lowered hers in response.

"You're missing one."

Cinder nodded, the humiliation burning in her chest. She should _not_ have needed this and it was not supposed to be this hard. She could command regular Grimm with ease.

"Without maintaining a human appearance, you will never be able to succeed at your task." Lady Salem held her own hand up. Cinder could feel the invisible threads pulling at her arm, forcing it to match what she once had. "Clear your mind of your frustration. By remaining calm, you will hold onto that shape."

It sounded so easy, but as soon as the threads were removed, it tried to snap back to a mouth. Cinder's breath quickened as she forced it to remain normal. Teeth, bones, eyes; all of them and more tried to form, tried to ruin her mistress's work.

A spine erupted from the forearm as she grit her teeth. Another tried to shoot into the stump of her arm, but her Aura blocked it.

"If you cannot maintain the one, then there is no hope for two. You would have to replace my gift with crude metal." Lady Salem towered over her. "You would need to depend on Dr. Watts to maintain it."

Cinder took a deep breath and redoubled her effort. Calmness, emptiness; those were what she needed. Within three full breaths, the bone began warping and cracking as she forced it back in. She needed to do this. She would _not_ depend on anyone else.

Every inch it pulled back took seconds. By the time the arm was back to mostly normal, Cinder's sheets were soaked through with sweat.

"Congratulations are in order, for more than one reason." Lady Salem lifted her chin with a finger. _Her eyes were bottomless pools of darkness that Cinder plummeted into._

She was falling into an ocean of darkness. A bleak, emptiness so complete that back when she still had hands, she'd have tried to wave them in front of her own face without being able to see anything. Worse was the lack of sound. This was a realm of nightmares and terror, the mind and soul of her Mistress. And even someone as accustomed to it as Cinder felt her pulse race faster and faster while she fell.

Her heart pounded in her chest, beating with a strength that reached her ears. After what seemed like an eternity, a sound entered her mind.

"Your manipulations have born fruit, dear Cinder." Lady Salem's voice echoed between her ears as an image appeared before her. It was a view of Beacon, the citadel of their greatest foe. The sight came from far, far above the campus, but the tower was unmistakable. So was the destruction covering the center. "The Sidereal girl has broken from Ozpin."

Cinder took a deep breath. In this world, she still had a voice. "Are we to move in?"

"No. Dear Ozpin deployed an unknown weapon against us as the attack began."

The image was replaced with a wave of black motes, the remains of the Grimm, being turned to white and exploding towards her.

"It destroyed all of my creations within ten leagues of Beacon."

Cinder was struck speechless. That was ludicrous; no weapon, no spell, no technique could have such an effect.

"But, by doing so, he has revealed his hand."

"Was it one of the Maidens?" Cinder could only dream of being able to do such a thing.

"No. Such power and precision are beyond their control. Only one class of being could both accomplish such a feat and would be present." Lady Salem brought forth additional images. They were the known and suspected members of Ozpin's cabal. "Ozpin must have been harboring one of the Exalted among his pawns for quite some time."

The images rotated, cycling through each. All were accomplished Hunters, each within the top of their field in whatever they had chosen to specialize in. Cinder had spent a great deal of time studying the mannerisms and fighting style of each. "Why would he do this and not stop the Sidereal?"

"Perhaps he tried to stop her. This occurred before her public rebellion."

Cinder thought about the various plans they had made to conquer Beacon. "What about the great dragon? Wouldn't he have been within the range?"

"Fubarushu yet lives, though he will need to hibernate for quite some time before he's recovered from the injury."

"What shall I do?"

"Have your thief observe Beacon. You must acquire the remainder of the Fall Maiden's power, but until we identify this threat, you could not risk infiltrating directly, even if you were whole."

Cinder tensed as she nodded. Those were her orders, as distasteful as hiding like a coward would be. Her spells and the fragment of power that she had should have rendered her unbeatable, but Belladonna had proven that to be false. A teenager, gifted with a power that she refused to grasp, had cut through her best without any difficulty.

It was sickening how the girl refused her potential. If Cinder were in her place, the kingdoms would have already been burned to ash. Both of them, her and the blonde, should have ruled over their school, not been reduced to cowering in the wilderness. They didn't deserve the power they had.

While she could think of nothing more satisfying than basking in their fall from grace; their slow deaths from Tyrian's venom would also be acceptable. So too, would his arrogance being shattered by their blades.

"I understand," she said aloud, none of her inner anger reaching her tone.

"Very good. Soon enough, you will awaken to the potential that I saw in you all those years ago."

Cinder bowed her head again. She owed Lady Salem for more than her mistress would ever know. She had been saved from a life of pointless sacrifice, toiling uselessly for the foolish masses that would never appreciate the sacrifices made in their name. She had been given a purpose. She had been given the power she'd always dreamed of.

"But for now, you must recover. There will be other opportunities to strike against Beacon and it will take several months for my spiritual creations to take root once more."

 _She fell out of the vision as abruptly as it began._

Cinder opened her eyes from within her crippled body once more. The arm had maintained its human-like shape, but the nails had grown into talons that speared through her mattress. Lady Salem frowned slightly at the sight.

Emerald gasped from the doorway, bowing her head as Lady Salem glided out. Mercury was nowhere to be seen.

Cinder watched her most loyal servant carefully as she approached. The cool light did not do her complexion wonders, nor the obvious stress. She would need to be rewarded soon, perhaps a meal at one of Vale's finest restaurants, one of the ones she'd never dreamed of going to. It would both sate her and give Mercury ample opportunity to abuse the waitstaff.

Emerald quickly checked the temperature of the bowl before picking up the spoon. Cinder could not wait for this humiliation to be a distant memory.


	56. Chapter 9-1

"Make it all worth it. Keep them safe," Weiss quoted her partner's last text to her own reflection for the third time since Ruby left. She had their entire room to herself and had made a desk where she could watch herself in a personal mirror. It reflected the entire room, reminding her of what she'd already lost.

It was part of her work routine now, repeating Ruby's final command. Weiss had woken up to it the next day and Ruby hadn't turned her scroll on since. Given the reactions from both the news and the rest of campus, Weiss couldn't blame her.

With that in mind, she paid slightly more attention to the extra scroll that was playing the morning news. "An anonymous source told us that the Vale council has contacted the Atlas military for assistance in the Anathema crisis. Hunters in Vale remain unable to comment. More on this story after the break."

She groaned. It hadn't taken long for the panic to set in after Beacon was attacked. Between the videos posted online and the obvious inability of the Anathema Hunters to respond, there was no way to keep it under wraps. Vale needed to respond quickly to calm her people, but it didn't look like they were able to.

Weiss ran her fingers through her hair while watching herself very closely in the mirror. _She let her Aura run wild as she planned for the next day. It's edges threatening to push outside of her own body. But, with each wave of Aur-Essence, she wrapped another around it, and kept herself from bleeding any away._

It was inefficient, but it also allowed her to access the vast depths of her true power. Considering she would never touch that Essence normally, the extra cost was more than worth it. And in the coming months, she would dearly need as much power as she could grasp.

Ruby had set the stage for a number of different, very risky, actions that Weiss could take. If she succeeded, she'd acquire enough power to keep not only herself safe, but also the rest of her team. The problem was that actually doing so would put her into a morally grey area without Blake, Yang, or Ruby to rein her in if she went too far.

While it may be tempting to take advantage of the chaos, it was also-

A frantic knocking came from the door as Pyrrha called out, "Weiss, are you there? Can we talk?"

"The door's unlocked."

"Thank you, I-" Pyrrha cut herself off when she stepped in and saw all of the other items still strewn around. Her eyes lingered on Ruby's desk for longer than any of the others. "I'm really sorry about this, but I can't just sit there and listen to them anymore."

Weiss locked her scroll, just in case Pyrrha recognized what was on it. "What's happening?"

"My team's talking about what happened and… and they're saying such terrible things. That she betrayed us, that she's going to kill us all… That she's Anathema." Pyrrha paced back and forth, fists clenched. "It was all I could do to not interrupt."

"Why didn't you?"

"It would have been rude and I don't-" She took a deep breath. "They're not entirely wrong about what they're saying, but they didn't see what I did and… and I don't have any proof of it and I would sound mad if I began trying to explain that... that..."

"Explain that you know what Ruby's goddess said." Weiss finished the sentence. "You know the truth, but that doesn't change what she did or how they're reacting?"

"No, it doesn't, especially because Nora has so much trouble remembering the good things that Ruby did." Pyrrha sighed. "We've also had people waiting at our door every morning who want to talk about it. Other want their chance see Ren, Nora… or Jaune."

Weiss raised an eyebrow when Pyrrha started blushing.

"Some of them have been, er, very explicit about what they'd like to do to him."

Weiss didn't understand why Pyrrha was so hung up on someone who had been utterly incompetent until very recently. She deserved better than that, but didn't seem to want to find it. "You could put a stop to that if it's bothering you this much."

"I wouldn't want to just kick them out, even if-"

"That's not what I'm talking about." Weiss stepped closer." Pyrrha, you are an incredible person who someone like Jaune would be incredibly lucky to ever catch the eye of."

"I, ummm… I'm not," Pyrrha stammered, cheeks blazing.

"Pyrrha, it's fine." Weiss laid a hand on her arm and squeezed. "I'm not going to tell him."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little." She paused for a moment, watching for Pyrrha to start breathing slower. "Feeling better."

"Just a little." She laughed slightly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You're at Beacon to learn to be a Huntress, aren't you?"

"Yes, I thought that was my Destiny, but… but now that an actual champion of Mars has appeared, I should be helping her, but she left before I could ask her anything else."

Damn, there was so much that Weiss could do with that attitude. It would be far too easy to turn Pyrrha in whatever direction she wanted to. But what would be best for Pyrrha? "What have you thought about?"

"I thought about going after her, but I have no means of finding her. Similarly, I could try to find Blake or Yang. If they've truly been blessed by other gods and aren't demons, then I should do my best to help them as well. But… I have no idea where to begin."

"For that matter… Ruby believed that you too were chosen. I've assumed that you used your gifts to watch what happened without me noticing you. Is there anything that you would need?"

Weiss grit her teeth. That was far too tempting. There had to be something she wasn't seeing here something she- _A harsh cold ran through her veins as a threat became obvious._ "Pyrrha, how many people did Ruby tell that theory to?"

"I'm not sure. Jaune, Ren, and Nora know of it, but I'm not sure-"

"They're enough." Just those three were more than enough to ruin all of her plans if they told the wrong people or thought about it long enough to make the connection. "Ruby… why? I told you I didn't want to do that."

"Weiss?"

"Pyrrha," Weiss met her eyes, her own expression as intense as she could manage. If Pyrrha were at all capable of deceit, then this would be even dumber than it felt. "There are two things that you can do to help me right now and several more based on the results of the first two."

"What do you need?"

"First, I have a question for you." She waited for the nod before continuing, "What do you think I am? What would people call me if they knew?"

A light of realization appeared in her eyes. "An An- someone who's… been."

"Then you understand how dangerous this is for both of us."

Pyrrha nodded.

"I want to help humanity and I'm going to need help if I'm going to do that." She reached for her scroll. "You'll need to be able to lie if you really want to help."

"I- I'm not really comfortable with that. I avoided taking part in any social games because it felt wrong."

"Isn't one of Mars' themes debate and argument? If you really want to serve her well, then you would become proficient with all of her weapons." Weiss watched the gears turning even as Pyrrha grimaced. "Knowing how to wield a sword against people doesn't turn you into a murderer, knowing effective techniques to convince people won't turn you into a harpy either."

"I really want to smack you right now. You're right, but it feels slimy to think about doing that."

"That's a good instinct, because the main task that you can do for me right now is to tell me if any step of my plans would either be immoral or go to far."

"I can do that, but why now? What're you going to do?"

"If I'm going to remain able to act and change people's minds, then I'm going to need to acquire protection."

"I'm still confused."

"Ruby thought that I wanted to take over Beacon. I suspect that she's put events in motion to make that happen."

Pyrrha nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"I've underestimated how devious she can be. She's gotten everything that she said she wanted, but none of us expected how it would occur."

"I don't think she would've wanted any of this to happen."

"At the beginning of the semester, she wanted to know the secrets of the investigations. Then, the professors broke all forms of protocol and allowed her to watch mine. When she wanted to know what we were keeping from her, Yang was revealed in the middle of a fight she planned. And when she wanted the Anathema investigations to stop, she decisively stopped them." Weiss listed the major events she'd observed in order. "If she wanted to help the image of me she had, then she would put Beacon into a state where I could take over and also give me a reason to do so."

"I don't think Ruby would do that."

"I'm not sure I can risk making that assumption right now." Weiss locked the door and sat back down. "But, you may be correct, that's why there's something else you can do to help me."

Pyrrha nodded.

"I'm going to try something new with my own blessing. I don't know if it will work, but I'm not sure how cognizant I'll be while I do it." She shifted, settling into the most comfortable position she could. "I need you to make sure that I stay in this room and that no colorful Aura or symbol appears. If either starts happening, then you should wake me up or knock me out. Can you do this for me?"

"Yes." She nodded immediately.

Weiss looked at her, _unleashing a hint of the primal fury within._ "Please say what it is you're going to do."

"I-I," Pyrrha stuttered, her hands flying to her sides, where she would normally have held her weapons. The lamp behind her flew into her grasp instead of anything threatening. "I'm going to make sure you stay here and don't reveal yourself, either by waking you up or knocking you out."

Weiss released the effect. Pyrrha fell to her knees, gasping for breath. "I'm sorry that I needed to do that, but I had to be sure."

"Don't do that again. It was… horrific."

"I won't and thank you." Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

One… two… three.

 _She pushed her Essence to her mind, making it move faster. When she reached the bounds of what a human could do, she moved even further beyond. A web of connections appeared in her mind's eye, the spokes shining with silver light. Many faces forced within the web, their bodies obscured by stands tying them in place._

 _She reached her own limits, the line she'd never crossed before. She wrapped her Essence around itself and stepped beyond. The faces became distinct, they spoke among themselves and told the secrets that she knew they knew. As they chattered, a hidden web of connections revealed themselves by the vibrations of the strands._

She could have stopped there, formed a plan from the unconscious information that was now obvious to her, but she didn't.

 _Weiss pushed herself beyond the limit of what would be sane. And she became a spider, searching for the most nourishing target._

* * *

James scrolled through the reports of each of Atlas's current deployments from the extra office that Oz loaned him. The screen was smaller than he was used to and he had far more reports than normal, but he also lacked any of the distractions that being on site at the academy caused.

It also meant that he would be ready to take over if the offer to Vale's council was accepted. They would hate ceding any authority to him, but none of Vale's Hunters had figured out a way around the curse. With every day that passed, the Anathema already running loose would be able to gain a stronger foothold.

Without their authorization though, there was nothing that could be done.

Someone knocked on the door with three short raps, followed by two more. The second set indicated that there was someone else who could be listening in.

Sergeant Aiken called out. "General Ironwood, sir. We have a person of interest who wishes to sit with you as soon as possible."

That phrase meant it was someone wealthy who they had a file on, who was looking for a secure meeting. There weren't many options for who it could be in Vale, but someone could have flown in. "There are some openings." He had the time for the right person. "Who are they and what's the topic?"

"Miss Weiss Schnee and the Anathema."

That he would need to hear. "Send her in."

"General Ironwood." She curtsied. "Thank you for seeing me."

"I heard that you have important information about the Anathema."

"I do." She nodded, hands clasped in front of her. "But first, I wanted to extend an offer from the SDC."

"Oh?" He tried not to sound annoyed. It wouldn't be the first time that they tried to use her to gain sympathy for a better deal. Now that she was a victim of the Anathema, most of his men would cave.

"If Atlas is going to be providing security for Vale, then the SDC would be happy to provide additional support." She smiled very slightly, obviously uncomfortable with the idea.

James sighed. "You can tell your father that I'll speak to him after an agreement is reached."

"You haven't begun operating then?" She raised an eyebrow. "I would've thought that it would've been decided more quickly with the Anathema running rampant."

"No, nothing has been decided yet." Not that he would have revealed such information if they had.

"I see," she said plainly. "There must be a lot to negotiate."

"Yes."

"Very well." She nodded and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, a chill ran down his spine. She'd changed like night and day. Before, she'd been a sweet child, but now it was just like sitting across from her father. "Regarding the other reason I came here, the Anathema."

"You have some information about them."

"I do, but." She glanced at the soldiers flanking him. "Can we speak privately?"

James checked her for visible and hidden weapons. He couldn't see any, but that didn't mean he hadn't missed them. If she was a Silver or Golden Anathema in disguise, it also wouldn't do him much good.

"Men, patrol and check in papa-five-golf-eight-whiskey" They'd grab the rest of their squad and check in at predetermined times, ready for Anathema. The Schnee family was considered a high priority target for any who would infiltrate the Atlas upper class.

After they left, she continued, "From my observations of Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna, and Ruby Rose, I believe that I've discovered a trait of the Anathema that hasn't been documented before."

"Ruby Rose hasn't been classified as Anathema."

"She exhibits all of the important secondary traits and Yang didn't have the primary ones. Blake has been classified as such as well despite not displaying any primary traits."

"While your logic may be sound, it doesn't mean that we will label her as such."

"That's good." Weiss smiled slightly. "Regardless, she is the same type of being, one who was blessed with divine power."

"What proof do you have of that claim?"

"The words of a goddess herself."

James watched her expression, it was completely neutral. "I didn't take you as the religious type."

"I'm not. Or, it would be more accurate to say that I wasn't." She met his eyes, holding them without blinking. "The Goddess Mars appeared before Ruby while I watched with two others: Pyrrha Nikos and Qrow Branwen."

Qrow hadn't mentioned that she'd been there during his drunken rant. Then again, he hadn't been able to stand up unsupported either. "Let's say that I accept this assumption. What have you found out from observing all three of them?"

"That aspects of their behavior is most likely caused by a being beyond themselves."

"Explain."

"I don't know how much you know about Ruby, but she took actions that shocked those of us who've lived with her. She may be reckless and idealistic, but never to the point of harming people." Weiss held a hand out to the side as she spoke. "Regarding Yang, the differences are much more apparent."

He thought back to the reports and lectures about their targets' recent behavior and potential weaknesses. "The report about her breaking down in the middle of a fight."

"Precisely." She returned her hands to her lap. "There is also one more piece of information which I have that I doubt many others would."

James leaned forward.

"Yang knew what she would have to do to prevent that from happening and she refused to do so because she found it evil. There were other options that would be acceptable to most people, but were unavailable to her at the time."

' _If I don't kill someone, I'll die.'_ The words of the late new-type of Anathema who had given them so much information echoed in his head.

"Blake had similar feelings, but found more ethical solutions more easily and never dealt with her patron's displeasure."

He would need to order that lab swept for leaks as soon as he could. While it was entirely possible that she came to this conclusion by herself, especially considering some of the reasons why she was investigated, it was too conveniently timed. "Her patron's displeasure?"

"Considering that the number of Anathema who know of their relationship with the gods is low, I doubt that many would be able to identify the source behind their urges. Or even that they come from anywhere besides their own minds."

"You seem awfully sure of this theory."

"It's consistent with both what I've been told by two Anathema, my observations of Ruby, and a number of historical cases where one evaded notice for a long time. They usually were caught when they decided to do something extreme and ill advised for no apparent reason."

"You must have known about them for some time to gather that much information."

"Failure to report an Anathema, especially considering their known ability to control minds, is not a crime in any Kingdom." She was quick to defend herself, which was unsurprising considering her upbringing.

"While it may not be illegal, it does speak to the character of the person."

"If I hadn't come to you about this now, then no one else would have ever known," she said with an edge, the same one her older sister Winter had whenever she was getting annoyed. "I would've been free from suspicion and you would have lacked important information about the Anathema."

While that made sense, something was bothering him that he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Why would you bring this to me? You're a student at Beacon and such a vulnerability is not very relevant to combating them. One of your Professors must be researching the Anathema."

"The Anathema Hunters within Vale have been paralyzed by Ruby's curse. Even if I gave them this knowledge, they can't act on it." She grinned. "And, I also know that you know the Anathema are still themselves, not demons walking around in human guise. I can't be so sure about the staff here without putting them at risk."

"You've read the top secret sections of our investigation manuals."

"Multiple editions."

That wasn't a surprise, military intelligence knew that the Schnee family, along with several others, had acquired knowledge of the truth behind the Anathema and did their best to profit from the genius discoveries before turning in any they found within their ranks.

"The power that they have could turn the tide against the Grimm."

"Or spell our doom. They could turn their powers on us just as easily as the Grimm, after becoming so convincing that none would fight back."

"Even the strongest anathema could be killed once the Grimm were removed. It may take the lives of thousands, but they would fall eventually."

"I could arrest you for saying this."

"But, you haven't."

"Not yet." He drummed his fingers on the table. She was parroting ideas that he'd been thinking about more and more lately. "You're too smart to put yourself in that position without a good reason."

"They would be an incredible force multiplier, no matter which type you found. Once their particular issues have been identified and workarounds found, they would be no different than an extraordinarily powerful Specialist."

"A Specialist who could take over the entire military if they so chose."

"There are system in place to prevent that and many would not choose to."

"Your girlfriends? That's what this is about."

She briefly flinched. That was where this was coming from. "Neither Blake nor Yang want to rule. Instead, they would work for Faunus rights and fighting the Grimm, respectively."

He could hear the implication in her words clearly. ' _Both of them know their own weaknesses and wanted to be Hunters even though they knew the risks of getting caught. They would be happy to be the vanguard in an offensive.'_

"A moment." He pulled a notebook out of his jacket and paged to the recent entries. To anyone else, it would look like gibberish, but he'd memorized the cipher he used and could quickly decipher the shorthand. Unless she'd modified this notebook, she hadn't implanted what he was currently thinking about herself.

Three knocks sounded. "General Ironwood, sir. Patrol checking in, oscar-mike-six-bravo."

"Alpha-xray-lima-three." He rattled off the clear and continue patrol phrase. There was one important question that remained. Was Weiss Schnee more like her father or her grandfather? One could be counted on acting in his own best interest in all cases. If you could make your interests align with his own, then he would help you too, However, he wouldn't hesitate to stab anyone in the back if he felt like it would be a net benefit. The other had been an inspiration to James' generation.

He slipped the notebook back into his jacket. "I should bring you in, right now, for immediate investigation."

"By your own words, you don't have the authority to act in Vale just yet and all of the Hunters who do cannot." She had him there. There were emergency powers that any Hunter or Specialist could invoke, but the political situation was very precarious. "And, I've prepared several dead drops and emails which will be sent if I don't stop them. Ruby may have hurt Beacon, but the right words at the right time could destroy Vale."

"You would kill millions to keep yourself safe?"

"If you allow me to walk away, then none of that needs to come out and I disappear."

More like her father so far. "Was that offer true, about the SDC, or simply a method of gathering information?"

"I have the authority to make offers like that and meant every word." Icy eyes bored into his own while the room's temperature fell. She was a sorceress, just like Glynda. It gave her plausible deniability for any strange abilities, including controlling minds. "And I believe that I could help you as well."

"What do you want?" If he was at his normal desk, he'd have a silent alarm that could have been pressed, but at Beacon it would need to be loud.

"I want to banish the blight from our world." Her voice rang with a clarity and passion that any politician would sell their soul for. "Since the dawn of time, we've lived in fear and isolation. We carved out our kingdoms, but still depend on their walls for protection. For countless centuries, we have covered in fear. Both fear of the Grimm and fear of each other.

"This fear is logical. There will always be those who are selfish, those who would take from others for their own benefit. They exist among all classes of people and all classes of being. We Hunters, we stand head and shoulders above the masses. If we wanted to, we could all stop fighting and allow them to be slaughtered, but we don't. We could take over, rule like the lords of old. Who would be able to fight back besides our own? Again, we don't."

She stood up and extended her hand to him. "Our strength comes from our unity, our willingness to sacrifice so that we can build a better future, together. Just as a Hunter stands above a mere human, so to does one of the Chosen stand above a Hunter."

He forced himself to keep still.

"What I want is to use my talents, my blessings, to enable our kingdom to be the best that it can be. We can become better as soon as we stop getting in the way of our best: whether they be human, Faunus, or something more. Together we would push back the darkness surrounding us and reclaim our world."

Many mysteries that James had been trying to solve suddenly revealed themselves. Three of their worst case scenarios had all coincided in a way that had never been planned for: an Anathema sneaking into a combat school for an extended period of time, multiple Anathema meeting before anyone found them, and a higher ranking member of a family known for toeing the line being Anathema. She'd had all of the information required to circumvent the investigations and would have been able to pass it along to her allies.

The timeline played out for him. Following the assassination attempt on the main Schnee family, the SDC suddenly became more lenient on their Faunus employees, unlike every other time they'd been attacked. Their destructive business practices, forcing others out of business by undercutting, had been curbed and the SDC reinvested with an explicitly long term focus. The sudden changes had baffled those who were looking deeply at them, but no source had been found for the surge of compassion.

No information was leaking because they'd been looking at the wrong source. This was the first conversation he'd had with the head of the SDC in months. Which put all of his other worries into a new context.

Would an empowered Nicholas Schnee destroy the world? James doubted it, but many would disagree with that decision.

"What is it that you'd want?"

"A position as an intelligence contractor. No leadership, no direct reports. I would have access to difficult problems that need solving. If needed, I would be happy to be behind several communication barriers for your peace of mind."

"You could have gotten a position like that without revealing yourself." Her sister was very close to the role, but was too junior to be given access to any black projects.

"I won't be able to stay completely hidden for much longer, not if I'm going to help more directly. If I'm forced to retreat to the wilderness with my team, I will, but how much potential will be lost when that happens?"

"What makes you think I would be able to protect you?"

"Someone, I suspect Professor Ozpin, protected Ruby. She should have been the first of us who was investigated. Instead, she was ignored until the very end."

"You're not asking for the others to be protected as well?"

"If I thought it was possible, I would. But, it would be far too suspicious and I'm confident that they'll be able to survive until Ruby finds them. With the three of them working together, you would need an army to take them down."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence about keeping them alive."

"They want to fight the darkness and you'll never catch Ruby anyway. Even assuming you have Specialists who can remember her long enough to track her, she can become nigh-invisible and soundly defeated the best fighter at Beacon."

James was very aware of his lack of a hand right now. "And, if this is to happen, what exactly does your patron want?"

"Change."

There were several potential gods that he knew of who that could be. But, he would bet on the moon if he had a choice.

"They desire," Weiss continued, cementing his assumption, "that our civilizations grow past what they are right now."

"That seems oddly specific."

"It's a gut feeling."

"I see." James took a deep breath and stood up. He should sound the alarm and be prepared to submit himself for mental decontamination. He should destroy her before she could dig her hooks in further and shatter the kingdoms.

But, if he did that, then the shadow war would be lost. Ozpin, Glynda, and he would all be removed for an extended period of time, while Vale was at its weakest in years. Salem would be able to sweep in and claim the Fall Maiden with only Qrow standing in her way. "You've left me with very little choice."

"I intended to."

"There are two problems that would demand immediate attention, as soon as you prevent those messages from being sent."

She pulled out her scroll and continuously typed while speaking, "I've delayed the ones which were timed for half an hour. The hourly and daily ones remain. What are the problems?"

"We'll need to speak with Professor Ozpin before saying anything else."

If she could find the Winter Maiden or help Amber, then this risk would already pay off.


	57. Chapter 9-2

"While your compassion may be admirable, it is also foolish."

Blake tried to shut her voice out while she finished the stitches. It wasn't that she wanted to shoot down the ship coming after them, she just didn't have a choice.

The still burning remains of the ship were right next to then, Yang's body rooting through the storage compartments. It had happened again, Yang was taken over by some mad woman who thought they should be everything the Anathema were accused of.

At least she seemed to know enough about medicine to make the last of this easy.

"Your actions will only lead to further problems in the future." Not-Yang tore the sleeves off of a flowery robe that had been in the ship. It was a completely clean cut which somehow left it looking nicer than before. "If you fail to kill your enemies, then they will only bring intelligence back and return with greater forces."

Blake grit her teeth and glanced at the Hunters she'd pinned to the landscape with phantom swords. The waves of hatred coming from them were almost visible. She'd never seen anything like that before, even from the most aggressive racists. And yet, because of her own abilities, she knew that the woman was actually trying to help, which only made it more infuriating.

"You're damn right." One of the men tried to spit at them, but he was way too far away. He was big, almost half a foot taller than Yang, and had been the second hardest to take down. Three swords were needed before he stopped fighting back. "If you think we'll let you destroy our Kingdom, you have another thing coming."

"Hai, you're not helping," The more dangerous, smaller man near him half whispered. He was on the ground next to his broken Dust staff-thing. It, unfortunately, had to be shattered in the fight because he could control it without his hands and kept attacking them after he was pinned. Unlike the others, he had some amount of pity for Blake and Yang.

She could have told him that they weren't heading for Mistral, but that would reveal exactly where they were going.

"Don't let the demons deceive you, Seok!" The large man shouted, making the smaller one flinch at the word 'demon'. "They're only pretending to be merciful. Just you wait, one of them will ensnare us before they leave."

Blake rolled her eyes. She might be able to do something if she wrote them a book, but that would be easy to just ignore.

"If I wished to," Tialeth huffed, "Ensnare you', it would be even easier than throwing you to the ground."

Blake glanced at the man she was fixing up. Everything looked good.

"What I'd like to know is,"- Blake stood up, catching the eyes Seok. -"why did you bring someone who didn't have their Aura unlocked to a fight?"

The man closed his eyes. "He was a merchant who offered his ship to us so that we could keep our people safe. You cost him thousands of Lien, along with nearly taking his life."

His real meaning was as clear as day. ' _You damage everything with your presence. If you are truly a good person, then you should kill yourself before you harm anyone else.'_

"If you were not so impudent, then your merchant would have never been harmed." Tialeth began moving toward him, but Blake intercepted her. "You should be bowing to the Chosen, the true rulers of Creation."

"Please stop," Blake said between her teeth.

The woman sneered at her. "Are you that cowardly? Do you have no dignity, no pride? Has your corruption decayed not only your Exaltation, but your spirit as well? You flinch away from insults hurled in your direction like a frightened kitten."

Blake clenched her fists and felt her ears fold down, there was no point in wearing her bow now. No one even cared she was a Faunus now that she was Anathema, but somehow, Tialeth managed to zero in on all of the ways to make Blake's blood boil. How had Weiss dealt with her? "There's no point in arguing with them. They won't change their minds."

"Of course they won't, they're mortals." She waved an arm wide. "They live for no more than a century and die to the slightest threat. Without our leadership and protection, they would be lost, weak, little more than chattel to both the divinities and Yozi. They lack the physical, mental, and spiritual strength to be anything else. That they have survived for this long with their heretical and suicidal beliefs is nothing less than a miracle."

' _You are their rightful ruler and it's your responsibility to take control of them, for their own good.'_ Blake heard the real words. It was one of the most toxic ideas she'd ever heard of.

Several of the Hunters started shouting at her, but Blake tuned them out. It would only be a few hours; she just had to put up with this ghost in Yang's body talking about everyone just like the worst humans spoke about the Faunus. It was wrong then and it was wrong now. Just because she could overpower them didn't make her better.

"Your Lunar wouldn't stand for this." Tialeth stripped Yang's old tank top and shorts off, then wrapped the robe around herself, completely unconcerned about what the Hunters saw.

' _Stop talking about her!'_ Blake shouted at her telepathically, forcing her way past any barriers.

"While she was also cowardly, she had a degree of ambition that you sorely lack." The woman flicked her hair back, letting it fall between the wings that Yang had chosen to keep around. "Even your Sidereal, the traitorous type that they are, has managed more. In my time, you would be a ruler of millions, molding your society as you see fit. Instead, you're a sniveling curr running from you inferiors."

She looked at Blake, voice wavering with sorrow that never reached her eyes, "Alas, if only they were still with you, then these fools would be incapable of resisting your dominion."

 _'You are far too careful, but I will not recklessly endanger her as well.'_ The haughty voice called into Blake's mind as the other Hunters relaxed. It was a transparent misdirection, to Blake, but as far as she could tell the others bought it. _'Though, there are many other reasons why your Lunar would be nice to have, assuming she has gotten over her hangups. The Sidereal would be useful, until she inevitably betrayed you, just as she did your teachers. '_

Blake's hand twitched to her sword as another image hit her mind. aAvision of blood and death. Tialeth smiled, eyes brightening.

She must've been able to see Yang's memories of that video of Ruby. They'd been checking the news every time they reached somewhere with reception. It explained a lot about why they hadn't been seriously attacked until they got near the eastern coast.

"I'm not going to give you the pleasure of responding to that." Blake forced her hand down and went back to the ship. "We're grabbing supplies and then leaving."

"You'll never progress without rising to a challenge, in either love or war" She glanced at the Hunters. "What if I were to take the actions that you so dislike?"

Blake's heart pounded harder. She could take a swing, wipe that smug grin off of her face.

No. She needed to stay calm. _She reached for the cool, tranquility of the night._ Just like she and Weiss practiced, though these barbs were worse than any Weiss had thrown.

Blake envisioned what she would need to do if any of them went bad. Actually bad rather than Yang's idea that she was evil despite only doing good things.

"Then I would stop you from hurting good people." The air around Blake's mouth misted as she spoke. One of the Hunters' scrolls exploded in a shower of sparks. She'd need to kill some Grimm after this, but those were easy to come by.

Tialeth's smile remained in place, but now it was approving.

Bile rose in the back of Blake's throat. That was what she wanted?

What sort of horror was the past if this was one of its rulers? Someone so full of pride that she expected to be attacked when she insulted someone and with such little care for the lives of others that she would threaten them to teach Blake a lesson?

If Blake ever did wind up in charge of something, she'd never treat her people that way.

* * *

Yang woke up with a groan. Her left wing was crying out in pain, she must've rolled over in her sleep and… She reached over her shoulder, brushing against bare skin.

She paused, looking at her lack of tank top with a sigh. At least she was wearing some sort of robe this time. It even had a slit back so her wings were free.

"God dammit," She swore under her breath and stood up, arms and wings stretching wide.

"I'm sorry," Yang said loudly toward Blake's Aura. She was lying far underneath her partner, who was keeping watch from a tree.

"It wasn't as bad, this time." Blake jumped down, landing in a silent crouch. "But, I'm going to… acquire… a medical textbook that you're studying until this stops happening."

"Wha'd she do?"

"She ranted at me about how we should be taking charge, not running away; should be commended for resisting our corrupt natures…. And…"

"And?"

"And also that I'm far too…" Blake looked down, cheeks burning up. "Prudish…"

Yang chortled, barely resisting laughing. That face was too adorable.

"It's not funny."

Yang threw an arm over Blake's shoulder. "Come on, it's a little funny. If she knew what you read, she wouldn't think that..."

One of the many memories of hedonism so bad it'd make her Uncle Qrow blush threatened to reveal itself to Yang. She pushed it down in favor of one that was less bad.

 _Sheets of Moonsilver so finely woven that they molded to the body of whoever laid on them, a mattress of supple red and blue Jade strips to maintain an ideal temperature, and a pillow stuffed with the dreams of men and woman who knew nothing, but joy. She fell upon the new bed and did not leave it for a week. Her concubines watched from the side, eyes full of want that would go unfulfilled, not used to their Mistress leaving them alone for so long._

 _Her circle begged to join her, as did the Chosen of Serenity that oversaw its construction, but she refused them all._

 _This would be her own treasure, for her and her alone._

"Actually, I take that back, she still would."

Blake rolled her eyes, but leaned into Yang's side. "They're not that bad."

"They're pretty bad." Their scrolls didn't have any service, so Yang tried to get through 'one of the bad ones'. Everything was so unrealistic that she couldn't read past the third chapter. "But hey, now I know what you like."

Yang folded her wing over Blake, prompting the girl to retreat under the feathers. She was really cold. Yang flared her Aura slightly, flames flicking at the ends of her hair.

"Thanks." Blake wrapped an arm around Yang.

They sat like that until Yang's stomach growled. She chuckled and pulled away. "So, do we still have my berries?"

Blake shuddered and pointed at the pack Yang had been using as a pillow. "Urgh, yes."

"Hey, these taste great." She pulled a small baggy out of the side and shook four bright red berries free from it. Blake grimaced when Yang popped one into her mouth. A burst of incredible sweetness erupted over her tongue.

"Mmph, so good." Yang moaned in a very exaggerated manner as she crunched the seed and unleashed a wave of tartness. Her lips puckered from it, ending in a hiss. "Ahhh, you don't know what you're missing."

"Every time you do that I want to slap those out of your hands and force you to throw up." Blake grabbed a bar of something for herself. "Besides, we have real food now. Those Hunters had way more than they ever would've needed."

She tossed one to Yang. It was a 'Super Aura Builder High Protein Dust Infused Chocolate Bar'.

Yang tossed it back. She'd never understood Mistral's obsession with marketing their weirdly named food. At least this one didn't have an awkwardly smiling Pyrrha on the wrapper. "I bet that tastes worse than the pebbles."

Blake shrugged. "I'll take it over salivating at the sight of pine cones."

"I don't get that. They were kinda like trail mix combined with mint ice cream to me."

"They were the second best thing I've ever tasted," Blake sighed wistfully.

Yang shrugged, eating another berry. It was the weirdest thing that she'd done so far, topping turning into a demon chick. If she focused her fire on her stomach, then she could eat anything, literally anything. And even better; she could do it to other people too!

"So…" Yang drew the word out with a silly grin creeping onto her face. "What's the best thing?"

Blake mumbled something, cheeks blazing red.

"Ohhh…" Yang leaned closer. "Come on."

"It…" Blake took a deep breath and seemed to force most of the blush away. "It was you."

"Woo." Yang cheer, pumping her fist in the air. Then the memories from the previous night came back to her and she froze. "Wait a minute. You don't mean?"

"Yeah." Blake looked away. "Last night… I, umm, I was wondering if…"

"Blake, I-" Yang gulped. How exactly could she phrase this without it sounding really bad?

"What's wrong?" Blake flinched back.

Yang clenched her fists. Right, she couldn't hide anything from Blake. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, but…"

She turned away and ran her fingers through her hair. "It kind of… ruined the idea of sexy vampires for me. If it was just biting, that would be one thing, but you sucked out part of my soul and… that was worse than anything I've ever felt before."

"I'm sorry." Blake shrank down, cat ears flattening. "I didn't know it would be that bad, but…"

Her nose scrunched up in thought. "But, you asked me to do it again after the first time."

Yang shrugged. "I needed to be sure that it was as painful as I thought."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You know how when you first try spicy food it's probably gonna taste awful because you aren't used to it, but eventually it becomes delicious?"

Blake nodded.

"It was kinda like that. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't you chomping down on something that would burn my blood and… Then I'd get a tolerance for it?" Yang paused, grinning as Blake chuckled. "I sort of lost control of the metaphor at some point."

"That's okay, though…" Blake looked up at the moon. "I do think I could do more with it and that might solve one of our problems."

"What'd you mean?"

"Something… tasted right last night and I think if I can do it again, I can figure out how to make use of…" She hissed and glanced back toward Yang. "The bit of your soul that I ate."

"Huh." Yang ran a hand over the side of her neck where Blake had sunk her teeth in. She knew nothing was there now, but her skin still felt super sensitive. "Does it have to be from the neck?"

 _NOOOOOOOOO!_

"It just has to be your blood, just a little bit."

"Well…." Yang drew the word out, trying to shut out the voice in her head.

 _This is wrong, unclean!_

She grit her teeth as the headache got worse. "You know what, do it."

"What?" Blake stared at her, eyes briefly going wide. "Yang's what's happening?"

"I said do it, okay! If it'll help us figure this stuff out… Then it's fine." Also, if the demon didn't want it to happen, then it at least wasn't evil… probably.

Yang held her wrist out for Blake and held her breath. Moments later, there was a little pinch to go with the big pain. Her aura was being torn from her, fragments peeling away. Every hair on her body stood up as her muscles tensed, but soon enough it was done.

Yang opened her eyes, but didn't see the familiar yellow ones looking back. Instead, they were lilac, just like hers. They were also framed by wavy blonde hair, just like hers. And the girl was wearing a weird robe thing that showed a ton of cleavage, just like…

"Woah." Yang laughed nervously. "Uhh…"

"Yang, it's me." Blake even sounded just like her.

"There are so many questions that I never thought I'd need to answer."

"What're you…" Her doppelganger squinted at her, before recoiling. "Why?"

"Like you haven't thought about it." Yang crossed her arms and turned away, but still smiled even though she knew Blake would get her meaning.

"I… No, no I haven't."

Yang narrowed her eyes, watching the expression that she'd certainly never be caught wearing. "Well, I call dibs then."

"Dibs on what?"

"Figuring out the next person whose face you steal."

"It's just an illusion!"

Yang poked not-herself in the boob. "Feels pretty real to me."

The other Yang shimmered and shattered, revealing a very sour Blake. Yang gave her a bright smile in response.

"Yang," Blake said very forcefully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just think-"

"You only get like this when the demon's yelling at you. What's wrong?"

Yang dropped the smile and sighed. "It's getting to me again and I missed the opportunity to give another evil speech to those Hunters. I don't have Weiss as a rival anymore, not directly anyway, so… If that was supposed to work, we'd need to go further and… And I know you're not ready for that right now so…"

"Yang, what's causing this?"

"You already know."

"I want you to say it." Blake grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Please."

Yang took a deep breath. "It's Ruby."

Blake nodded.

"She… she threw her life away for us and…" She held her eyes shut. "And we're already dead."

"Yang, we're both still here."

"No we aren't. Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long are dead. We're stuck in limbo until we learn how to disguise ourselves and become other people."

"We'll still be the same people."

Yang grabbed her own hair and made a fist. It just put pressure against her head, when it would've torn free normally. Now, she'd need to pull hard enough to bend steel to do it. "No we won't. We'll have new names, new faces, new everything. Our friends, our families, everyone we knew and loved, they'll all be gone!"

Blake squeezed her hand again while she panted.

"And, Ruby just did the same thing to herself, all to try and help us." Yang could feel the edges of her eyes watering up, but she refused to cry, she didn't deserve to cry when Ruby didn't in that video. "And.. and…"

Blake moved closed, patting her on the shoulder.

"And if I'd just talked to her, maybe none of this would've happened. We could still be at Beacon with her. She'd be on her way to becoming a huntress, and…"

Yang pulled her hand from her hair and forced her rage into it. A fire so bright she could see it through closed eyes ignited as she smashed the ground beneath them. The dirt rolled up into a wave, tossing both of them into the air.

Blake landed on her lap, facing towards her. Yang didn't know which of them hugged the other first.

"I'm a terrible sister. I treated her like a rabid dog and she threw everything she ever dreamed of away to help me."

"It's not your fault. None of us knew how she would react."

"I should've."

"None of us even knew she could stop them like that."

"It doesn't matter." Yang shook her head. "I-"

Blake cut her off with a kiss. She grabbed the back of Yang's head and held their mouths together until she started to feel her lungs burning.

Eventually, Blake pulled back. "Yang, please, stop beating yourself up. It's not good for you and… and... it won't be good for Ruby if she sees you like this."

Yang winced. Blake was… probably right. Yang'd always been the cool big sister. She made sure Ruby was happy and safe, even when she was tearing herself up inside. She'd been the rock in the storm, the person in their house who was there to catch both Ruby and dad whenever they needed her.

Dad… He'd be even worse than when mom died. She could- no, letting him know that she was still herself would make this even more painful for him.

"If you won't forgive yourself for your own sake. Do it for hers." Blake laid a hand on her cheek and rubbed it. "Besides, even if we have to change, we'll still have both Weiss and Ruby and… and remaking your life isn't that bad. The first time was rough, I'm sure the second'll be easier."

"Blake, I- I'm so sorry, I didn't think about..." She hadn't even considered what running away from the White Fang and then fighting them felt like.

"It's fine… I made peace with what would happen a while ago."

"No, if you're hurting, you should tell me, I-"

"Yang, please. I'm fine for now. You don't need more burdens."

Yang grit her teeth. She'd killed Blake's ex-boyfriend, someone who her partner used to love. She'd probably killed a bunch of Blake's old friends too.

"Okay." Yang nodded. "But, when we get to Menagerie, we're gonna talk about that."

Blake stared at the ground for several seconds. "We'll need to… Especially if we do go to my parents."

"Are you sure they'll be okay with…" Yang flapped a wing for emphasis.

"You look like a… very unusual Faunus right now. No one else has wings that actually let them fly."

Yang nodded. She'd never heard about it before, but they were too useful to give up.

"Also, about everything else, my dad was part of the cult of Luna way back when. They drew a lot of the more… bestial Faunus. They've also became much more open about talking to the silver Anathema ever since the White Fang became violent." Blake sighed. "I… I don't know what mom or dad'll do, but they'd be better than anywhere else."

"If it'd be an issue, I could pull them back in… Maybe replace them with a tail or horns or something."

"Maybe?"

"Pulling them back should be as easy as when I became a blonde again." That took her a couple of hours to figure out, but was important because Yang did _not_ want to spend the rest of her life looking like an evil version of her mother. "But, I'd need to go bright again to make new ones."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. They'd probably be, well, kinda demonic too. More like the Grimm than any normal animal."

"I don't think anyone would ask about that. We're compared to the Grimm so often that doing it to ourselves." Blake shuddered. "Just… no."

Yang chuckled. "Yeah, I-"

A low sound started echoing over the mountains. It blared so loudly that all of the birds nearby immediately took off.

"A Grimm siren," Yang said softly.

"We just took out a group of Hunters and their airship… That they borrowed from a nearby town..." Blake looked to the sky. "That's a lot of Nevermore."

"We need to help them." Yang stood up and stretched her wings. "They'll be defenseless."

"Yeah." Blake stood up, scooping their bag up in a smooth motion.

"Looks like I'll get the chance to give myself horns sooner than I thought."

"You think you'll need that much?"

"If the town attacks us while we're trying to save it… Yeah." Yang cracked her knuckles. "I might do it anyway just to make them run for safety."

"Let's do it."

Yang scooped Blake up in a bridal carry, which made a certain part of her extra giddy, and took off. They had a fight to handle, a fight that she could really cut loose in. The only way it'd be better was if she was carrying Weiss too, with her little sister leading the charge.


	58. Chapter 9-3

Qrow stepped into the workshop as quietly as he could. Oz had been waiting for him, but the old man didn't notice him enter. He was staring at a bunch of paintings. Or, more accurately, a particular painting of an old man.

After standing around for almost a minute, Qrow coughed loudly. Oz shifted and turned around.

"Ahh, Qrow. I'm sorry, I was simply-"

"It's fine." Qrow cut him off. "It hasn't been easy for any of us."

Oz nodded. "Indeed. How was Taiyang?"

"Alive." Qrow looked away. He knew what was coming next.

"You didn't speak with him?"

"What am I supposed to say? Sorry your daughters are traitors and Anathema?" Qrow threw his arms into the air. The man's entire life is ruined."

"Don't you think he would need his friends around considering what has happened?"

"Low blow, Oz," Qrow grumbled under his breath, still loud enough for Oz to hear. "I'm no good with that stuff. I'd make it worse, just like what happened with Ruby."

"Mmh." Oz made a noncommittal hum. "Family bonds are very important and not just those of blood. There are many instances when the ones you care about the most are not related to you, and those who are cause the most pain of all."

Ozpin turned to look Qrow in the eyes. "You're one of the only brothers he has left and he your's."

"Spare me the lecture." Qrow stepped up next to him and looked at the painting. There was something about the old man's eyes. They were clear, but held what seemed like a bottomless well of knowledge, even though it was only a painting. "Who is this one?"

"My father."

"Uhh…" Qrow looked over at the far end. That one was a man whose clothing looked a little dated, but not all that unusual. "Do you mean?"

"Yes, that one." Oz kept his eyes locked on it. "I can't help but wonder, what is it that he thought would happen? Did he foresee what Salem would do, what she would turn the Grimm into? Did he know that the gods would leave us behind?"

"Well, at least one of them seem to be paying attention now that Ruby's here," Qrow grumbled. He still wasn't sure what to think about that. Ruby'd managed what no one had in… centuries if Oz was right, when Mars responded to her.

When the old man first told them that while the gods existed they didn't seem to care about us, he and Summer didn't take it well. She'd torn her sunburst pendant off so quickly it took a good chunk of her shirt with it. Qrow's joined it in short order. Poor Tai still couldn't know why they had such a drastic change.

"Yes. Though, I would have preferred a different conflict be brought to our doorstep."

"You and me both."

Oz checked his watch, giving the mechanism a quick wind and keeping to his theme even when it wasn't practical. "We shouldn't keep James waiting any longer."

"You know what he called us in for?"

"An announcement, he didn't say anything else." Oz called the elevator down and they waited without talking.

Qrow prepared himself with a long swig, just enough to make his face feel slightly hot.

The doors opened to a smug James and sour Glynda.

While Oz and James greeted each other, Qrow pointed at the cane leaning next to her. "You stealing Oz's shtick?"

"Only, for the next two weeks," Glynda snapped. "Peter's proctoring the combat finals in my stead."

Qrow hissed and nodded. Glynda was one of the very few people who could take Qrow and she'd still lost as soon as Ruby started fighting seriously. Even knowing what they were up against, that must've stung, especially for someone who was as married to her job as the perpetually single combat professor. Who couldn't even teach her own class.

He'd lay off the jabs for… probably the next year to be safe.

Oz sat down, coffee in hand, and dimmed the windows. When Qrow checked his scroll, it didn't have a signal.

"Now then," James cleared his throat. "I'm sure you all want to know why I called you here."

Qrow rolled his eyes.

"I wanted to let you know that I brought on a new analyst last week and she had a number of questions that only you could answer."

"What does she already know?" Glynda asked.

"She's been informed about the Maidens and what we've found about the Anathema. I haven't-"

"You told her about the Anathema secrets?" Qrow shouted.

"Actually, no. She figured everything we currently know out herself, that's why I asked her to investigate other mysteries."

Qrow and Glynda looked at Professor Ozpin, who hadn't reacted to any of the announcement.

"Hmm." Glynda crossed her arms, eyes briefly flickering into a daze when the curse hit her. "I still don't see why you called all of us in if that's the case, you have our reports."

"She wanted to ask you about them herself."

"She's in Vale?"

"Yes."

Glynda glared at him, but just got a half-smile in return.

"James, that's enough teasing." Oz sighed. "There's no point in keeping it a secret."

"Very well." He tapped Oz's desk and Weiss Schnee's records from Beacon appeared. "Introducing my new analyst."

"No." Qrow almost fell on his face. "You didn't. I just told you that-"

He'd told them to look into her more right before he failed at helping Ruby.

"I know what you recommended." James dropped his voice, eyes deadly serious. "And she isn't going to be investigated, not by any of us."

Glynda tried to say something, but lost the energy halfway through opening her mouth.

Qrow's own body tried to betray him, but he pushed through it. "Son of a bitch! I was right! She's-"

And that was when his mouth betrayed him. An oppressive weight strangled his soul while he tried to form the words. Qrow sputtered, trying to make them come out, but it was no good.

"Yes, Qrow, you were right, but we have no more choice in the matter."

"There are always other options." Oz calmly sipped his coffee. "You're asking us to stand by and allow Atlas to fall to-"

Even Oz couldn't escape it.

"No." James shook his head. "I'm asking you to give me the same benefit of the doubt that you gave Ruby Rose."

"Yeah, well, we all know how that turned out," Qrow said more at the window than any of them. After a moment of stunned silence, he looked back. "What? She might be my niece, but someone needs to say it. That bit us in the ass worse than… Actually, I'm not sure we've made a worse call."

"It may have been better to reveal more to her sooner," Oz took a deep breath. "Regardless, we had a good reason to believe that Miss Rose would be different than the others."

"I'm not so sure." James crossed his arms. "From what you've told me, she's done nothing but attack every defense against the Anathema that _she_ finds immoral and bucked all authority. Which is exactly what her predecessors in that vision did."

"I've taught her for months," Glynda said. "And the attitude of the girl I fought resembles the one I remember from the classroom, but it was… more extreme than I ever would have imagined.."

"And, thanks to Miss Schnee, we may have a reason for that." James threw several charts up. "She found the pattern we hadn't noticed until the experiments on the new type Anathema. All of them are prone to drastic behavioral changes. She believes that it's triggered when they act against the wishes of the god who gave them their power."

Qrow tried to speak again, but the fog was overwhelming this time. He stumbled, catching himself on the wall. James was talking again, but it sounded like Qrow was underwater. Nothing could be made out. Oz said something as well, then it was back to James, just as the water was clearing.

"-caused a huge conflict." James slammed his real hand on Oz's desk. "It fits the theory perfectly."

Oz sighed. "Very well. Considering we can't fight against her curse, any other actions we might wish to take are irrelevant. If she is to remain at Beacon, we'll need to interact with her on a weekly basis no matter what."

"You're buying this, Oz?" Qrow couldn't believe it. "She's a-"

He couldn't say it. He couldn't say the damn word.

"She's a Schnee!"

James groaned. "'Yes, again, you were right in all of you assumptions about how much the Schnee family was taking advantage of their position. Do you have any other objections to speaking with her? You're all already under the thrall of one potential Anathema, all of the Hunters in Vale seem to be. If a different one was able to break that, wouldn't it be worth the risk?"

There were so many things Qrow wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't form the words.

"I don't like this, but do not have any objections I can voice," Glynda said as she stared at the screen.

"Will you speak honestly with her?" James stepped over to the elevator.

All three of them nodded.

"I'll be right back."

As soon as he left, Qrow was at Oz's desk. "Why?"

"We have no choice." Oz folded his hands in front of him and leaned his head on them. "We can't fight back, against anything."

Qrow voice caught in his throat again. There was no point in trying to plan for fighting against a Schnee controlled Atlas when they couldn't do anything about it.

Qrow waited for the elevator to return, tracking time by the rotation of the gears in the floor. The largest got through almost fifteen rotations before James and Weiss stepped out. She was a perfect example of a Schnee. Prim, proper, and dressed in white and blue, sword on her belt.

"Thank you for seeing me." She curtsied, ice cold eyes settling on Oz.

Qrow snorted and walked back to the side of the room, taking up a position on the wall.

"I understand that you may have reservations that are unlikely to be assuaged, but I still wish to tell you that I only want the best for both Atlas and Vale."

"You have some questions for us?" Glynda crossed her arms, eyes flickering between Weiss' face and her hands.

"Yes." She needed. "But first, is the room secure?"

Oz dimmed the windows and the elevator's locked with a loud clang. "It is."

"Thank you." She bowed her head to him. "I've spent the past week looking over the documents regarding the powers of the Maidens and any reports of public sightings. As far as I understand the situation: the Winter Maiden has been missing ever since the old one died over a decade ago; Summer is not very cooperative, but is still willing to help when you contact her; Fall is comatose; and Spring is currently active in an undisclosed location. Is this correct?"

Qrow nodded.

"I've been asked to focus on finding the new Winter Maiden, but there's one problem." Weiss looked right at him. "I don't think she can be found."

"Tell us something we didn't know. We've been trying to track her down for years."

"Have you considered that she might have been found by someone else?" Weiss pulled her own scroll out and threw several charts up. "Unlike previous instances, there have be very few potential sightings. And, it seems like you've already investigated each of the incidents."

Glynda pushed her glasses up. "If the power went to someone who was sufficiently careful, it would be nigh impossible to find them."

"No one's sufficiently careful to avoid drawing attention while everyone carries a camera around at all times."

"She could easily be outside of the kingdoms."

"It's possible, but I doubt it. She would be much more likely to reveal herself if that were the case due to being less exposed to potential warnings than someone who grew up within the kingdoms." She paused for a moment. "Just like how the Anathema are easier to find when they think they're free from observation."

Qrow clenched his fists.

"Right now, I have three theories as to why she hasn't been found. The first is enemy action."

Oz said, "There are others who are aware of the existence of the Maidens and actively attempt to subvert them. During the Great War, one perished and the next bearer of her power decided she would rather help her family win the war than protect her kingdom."

"Muirgen Delaney?"

"The very same." Oz nodded. "Her 'impossible sorcery' was really the magic of the Maidens allowing her to draw on more power than any other Huntress. But, even with their great power, their Auras are no stronger than normal."

"Unlike the Anathema who killed her."

"Quite."

"I've compiled a list of potential organizations that could easily hide someone with that type of power. The most likely candidates are the Ahlberg family in Atlas or the Twilight Breeze monastery in Mistral."

The biggest potential in Qrow's mind was Salem, but if James hadn't hold her about that, he certainly wasn't about to.

"My second theory is what I needed to ask you about." She turned to Qrow again. "One possibility for why you haven't been able to find the new Maiden, is that the old one is still alive."

"No." He pushed himself away from the wall.

"Have you ever considered-"

"Summer wouldn't do that to her family. If she was still alive, she'd be here."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "It is entirely possible that she might've chosen to-"

"She's dead. I spent almost a year searching for her and found nothing." He slammed his fist into the window, shaking the glass. "Whoever killed her left a twenty foot crater the behind. All that was left of her was the Orichalcum that went into her swords."

"She might've survived and-"

Qrow growled and opened the glass door.

"Qrow!" Oz shouted, standing up.

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to this... " He tried to say it again, but the word still wouldn't come out. "To this!"

"What are you doing?" James stepped toward him.

"I'm going back to Patch." He rolled his shoulder and got ready to shift. "If she's going to be here, then I'm going to do something I should've done years ago and get someone else in my corner."

Qrow jumped off of the tower before any of them could say anything else.

* * *

Qrow stepped up to the door and held his fist up. He took a deep breath, slicked his hair back, and gently knocked. After waiting for nearly a minute, he hit the door a lot harder. "Tai, it's Qrow. Come on, I can hear the TV."

After another minute of waiting with no response, he walked over to the window and reached for the top of the frame. The spare key was in the same place it always was.

As the door opened, he was hit by the overwhelming stench of stale beer. The massive pile of cans in the corner explained that one.

"Tai?" He stepped inside, cringing. The lights were on and he could hear the TV in the background, but the house was a mess. The side tables were covered with half empty food containers and other bottles.

Zwei, Tai's little dog, padded out from the living room with half of a drumstick in his mouth. He looked at Qrow with those beady little eyes that knew more than they should and turned toward the kitchen.

"Tai!" Qrow shouted as he dashed over to it. If Tai wasn't responding then… No, that was impossible. He wouldn't do that.

Tai's scroll was perched above the sink with a bottle on its side nearby. Tai'd always loved the expensive Atlas stuff and now half of it was poured over the counter. Qrow set it back up and picked up the scroll. Tai'd been watching a video of Yang… When she looked like a more evil version of Raven.

"Shit." A couple of second was all that he needed to see. She was flying around, surrounded by green fire that hurt to look at even through the screen, and getting blasted by what had to be village defense guns. All that while tearing Grimm limb from limb. She was cleaning up faster than Qrow could manage at his best. Every punch ignited the Grimm with the same sick fire she was wrapped in. It also shot them out into the crowd, where they promptly exploded, taking even more with them.

"Dammit Tai, why were you watching this?" Qrow took a swig from the bottle and shifted into his bird form. If Tai wasn't at home, there were only three other options.

Luckily he got it on the first try.

Qrow circled down towards Summer's grave, shifting back just above the ground. Tai was slumped over it with his arms wrapped around the stone. His sobs were almost drowned out by the breeze.

"Tai." Qrow stepped forward, holding his hand out.

"What'd you want?" Tai slurred his words as he turned around. His eyes were red and wild, the bags underneath them so dark he looked like he got slugged. He hadn't shaved in weeks and from the looks of it, probably hadn't changed his shirt in that long either.

"I came to check up on you. See how you were doing."

"Why do you care?" Tai growled.

"Because you're my fr-"

"Bullshit." He tried to push himself up, but his hand slipped on the grave. "You're never just checking up. You weren't there when Yang went missing. You didn't help Ruby and…"

Tai closed his eyes and nodded for almost a minute before he continued. "And you weren't there when we lost Summer. You're never around when we needed you."

Qrow clenched his fists. He wasn't there because he was wandering around Vale in a drunken stupor that he still couldn't remember. Tai knew that, he'd known for years, but it wouldn't do any good to throw it in his face now. "I'm sorry. I should've been there for you."

Tai looked like he just saw a ghost.

"What?"

"You're sorry?"

"Yeah, you're right."Qrow sat down and pulled his flask out. "I screwed up... big time. Should've helped the squirt out, not made her even madder."

Tai pulled himself up, leaning on his knees to keep from falling over. He watched the flask as Qrow took another drink. He reached for it; Qrow didn't let him, he was more than drunk enough.

"She always took after Summer that way, never willing to let something bad happen if she could help it."

"Yeah." Qrow nodded. "How come you can remember her so well?"

"Every morning, I read her emails and watch the video of her fighting until I remember what it was like to hold her in my arms for the first time." A tear ran down his cheek." Until I remember what it was like when we were a family."

Qrow didn't know what to say to that. Plenty of things crossed his mind, but maybe he didn't need to do anything. Instead, he grabbed Tai's shoulder and squeezed.

It was enough to know that someone else was there. Someone else was hurting.

They just sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the sun slowly sink under the treeline.

After what must've been hours, Tai spoke again. "I dreamed about her last night. First time in years..."

"Oh?" Qrow raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Tell me more."

"It wasn't like that." Tai elbowed him. "She was standing at the side of a small lake in her old Huntress outfit, the one from when we were still at Beacon."

Qrow nodded.

"She looked a lot like she did before she died, just like in that picture with Yang riding on her shoulders, but her eyes were different, deeper." Tai raised his hands, grasping at the air. "It was like… You know how sometimes when Professor Ozpin watched us and we were sure he was thinking something? Like he saw something we couldn't and knew us better than we knew ourselves?"

"Yeah." He knew that look all too well.

"It was kinda like that," Tai continued after a deep breath. "She said that she wanted me to know that she was proud of me, proud of the girls. She was sure that they'd have incredible futures ahead of them and wanted us to know that she'd always be there for us."

Qrow patted him on the back as he started sobbing again.

"What a fucking joke." Tai stammered between breaths. "Yang's Anathema. Ruby's… something, probably also Anathema, and even if she isn't... I'm a giant screw up of a father who-"

"Tai, you don't need to be that hard on yourself?"

"Don't I? My girls are gone, Qrow. What sort of father would let this happened?"

"Look, it's… not as bad as you think it is." They'd have a place in Atlas if nothing else.

Tai gave him an a look of pure venom. "Is this another one of those 'I can't talk about it' things?"

"Yes, but not for that reason." Qrow leaned back at looked at the moon. For some reason, it felt like it was smiling at him. "Tai, I need to tell you something about Summer."

"Qrow, you'd better not tell me she's still alive and you've hidden her all this time."

"I wish." Qrow took one more swig, finishing off his flask. "Tai, you remember the vacation we took after we graduated? When me, Summer, and Raven took off for a weekend and came back with that cute Vaccuan Huntress?"

"You mean when you three stuck me with scouting duty so you could, and I quote, 'Hunt down the finest piece of ass you could find with your best wing-girls'?"

Qrow nodded.

"Yeah, I remember." Tai leaned back. "I was pissed until I saw her. Thought you two were good for each other, especially since you spent every night together."

"Well, you see, me and her weren't actually doing anything and she wasn't really a Huntress."

"Could've fooled me. She pulled us out of the fire more times than I can count…" He paused, eyes going wide. "Wait. If she wasn't a huntress, what was she?"

"Tai, what do you remember about fairy tales?"


	59. Chapter 9-4

Ren flipped through his newest cookbook, looking for something that felt like home. Not his original home, but all of the places that he and Nora'd spent while they were traveling to Vale. the ingredients wouldn't be hard to find. The only issue was the spices; he just didn't have the right ones.

He sighed and slid over to his bookcase. Each one was sorted into a category and then alphabetically. As he moved over to cooking, he paused. The book that Blake had recommended was sitting at the end of his fiction section, bookmark sticking up from the halfway point.

It was a good book, but he couldn't bring himself to finish it. He also couldn't just get rid of it. She had been fun to talk about books with and now he couldn't help wondering if there was a reason that she gave him this one. Was it all a ploy to manipulate him or was it just a book? It was popular, thousands had read it, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it.

He was probably overthinking it.

Ren tapped the spine of the book, then went back to his cooking section. As he picked a new one, Nora opened the door.

"Hey, Ren." She waved lightly.

He smiled. "How was it?"

Nora groaned. "It's getting better…"

She flopped onto her bed, face down in her pillow. "Doctor Seymour wants me to try meditating more. But, it's still hard. Every time I do it, I remember what it was like and…"

Ren walked over to her and squeezed her hand.

"It's helping me remember more about Ruby too, even though he still needed me to remind him, and…" Nora lifted her head up, then slammed her head into the pillow again. "And I just don't get it. Why would she do that? It's crazy."

"Maybe." Ren sat down next to her. "I've been thinking about it too. If she wanted to help the Anathema, why do it that way? She'd have done more damage by pretending to be friendly."

"Basically no one can remember her and she can beat Professor Goodwitch one on one. She could've killed anyone she wanted to and never gotten caught." Nora rolled over with her eyes closed. "I just don't get it."

"Hmm." Ren laid down next to her. They had to share a bed enough times that both could comfortably fit on a twin. He held his arms behind his head, Nora resting hers in the crook of his elbow after a moment of hesitation. "She could have run out of time."

"Mmh?"

"If Blake and Yang wanted her to cripple Beacon, then she did exactly that." He'd been rolling the idea over for a while. "They might have called her back if they were losing control."

"You don't think she's Anathema too?"

"She was too obvious. If she was, she'd have been taken care of within the first week." The staff had investigated Weiss as soon as she did something that deserved it, but Ruby had done that during initiation. If she was Anathema, like half of her team turned out to be, then she'd have been caught immediately.

"How would they do…"

"The notes," they said at the same time.

"I could barely remember her before Blake wrote one for me, and then it became easy. If she could do that, then she could've had Ruby eating out of the palm of her hand with…" Nora held her hand to get chin, so in thought. "sticky notes on all of her books!"

"I think texting is more likely."

"Well, yeah, but it's so boring. A conspiracy of sticky notes is way cooler." Nora waved a hand in front of them. "Think about it. How just reading a book because you need to do homework and then"- she punched her palm -"bam! Suddenly you need to kill the king."

Ren chuckled. "I think someone else would've noticed those by now."

"Not if she hid another command for anyone else to forget about it." Nora shivered. "I'm happy it was probably texting.""

Ren closed his eyes and smiled. As long as Nora still had her sense of humor, he could afford to worry. "That doesn't explain what Ruby is though."

"Yeah… Do you think Pyrrha might be right?"

"It makes as much sense as anything else. Weiss also-" He stopped talking when the door opened.

"Hello." Pyrrha waved. She was in her combat gear and slick with sweat.

"Heya," Nora threw herself forward, landing on the ground in front of her bed. "Sparring?"

"Yes. Weiss asked me to help her with close combat drills."

"Isn't she the second best in our class now?" Nora quirked her head to the side.

"While she may be, there's always room for improvement." Pyrrha smiled at them as she pulled a towel from her dresser.

"You've been working with her a lot lately." Ren stood up, keeping watch of Pyrrha. If Blake and Yang had left messages for Ruby, they surely would've left some for Weiss.

"Well…" Pyrrha looked away. "She's all alone now and I thought that she could use a friend."

"Has she been doing anything weird?" Nora stalked toward Pyrrha.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, saying weird things when it's just the two of you."

"She hasn't said anything out of the ordinary." Pyrrha looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Wha-why are you asking this?"

Nora looked back at Ren. He nodded.

"Well, we've been talking about how strange everything's been and you've been kinda distant ever since the Ruby-thing happened and we're worried that…" Nora drew the word out for a moment. "That whatever happened to Ruby might happen to Weiss and then to you too."

"I don't believe that's possible. I-" Pyrrha cut herself off and took a deep breath. "I cannot see any reason why either of us would behave in such a manner."

"What if it wasn't your choice?" Ren cut in. "What if it was caused by someone else?"

Pyrrha's eyes flickered to an intense glare. "I hope that you're not insinuating-"

"I meant Blake." Ren raised his hands, palms facing her.

The anger dissipated as soon as it had appeared. "Ahh… I don't see how she could do that."

"Little messages left behind to catch you by surprise," Nora whispered loudly. "Or, you know, texting since she had all of our numbers."

"I still don't believe that would happen." Pyrrha frowned and crossed her arms. "Have you given any thought to what I asked about?"

Ren nodded. Once upon a time, he and Nora had regularly went to church. "It still seems too good to be true. If the gods are looking out for us, why is the first we've ever heard of it?"

"I do not pretend to understand the decisions made, but believe that there is a plan to fix our world." Pyrrha bowed her head. "Lady Mars would not have sent a Champion to lead us if that was not the case."

"Some leading she did." Nora snidely commented. "She just made everything worse."

"I'm certain that there is a good reason for her actions, destructive though they may be." Pyrrha couldn't quite look Nora in the eyes. "Any change would produce some form of strife."

"She almost killed our teachers!"

"But she didn't!" Pyrrha clenched her fists. "I've seen the video of the fight. Ruby could have won at any point by killing, but she held herself back every step of the way. Even when she almost lost, she stuck to non-lethal blows. You both saw this as well."

Ren nodded. Ruby's skill was so far above his that she would have been able to kill every one of them if she wanted to.

"In all of my memories, she's never acted with cruelty. I don't see any reason why she would start now."

"If an Anathema-" Nora began.

"If an Anathema wished for her to harm us, then there would have been many deaths that night." Pyrrha cut her off. "If you assume that malice was involved, then none of what occurred makes any sense."

Ren couldn't find any fault to the logic, especially because neither he nor Nora had been able to explain it, but something was still bothering him. "Pyrrha, if you believe there are others like Ruby, why haven't we heard about them?"

Pyrrha hesitated, her face stuck in an awkward half smile. "Well, I would imagine that they would exhibit similar traits as Ruby. They would display the symbol of their patron, have incredible talent in thematic fields, be superhuman in many ways…"

"You're basically describing the Anathema." Nora pointed at Professor Port's 'Vile Creatures and Dark Machinations: A Huntsman's Guide to All Things Evil, fifth edition' textbook. "The symbols of the sun and the moon appear on their foreheads."

"Well…" Pyrrha couldn't meet their eyes again. "Isn't one of the major theories that they have stolen divine power?"

Ren and Nora nodded.

"Then, what would you expect for those who should have it? I would expect something similar, but… less… uncontrolled. Ruby's aura is very calm, even though it's bright, unlike the raging fire of the Anathema."

Again, Ren couldn't fault the logic, but that idea especially didn't sit well with him. "If I didn't know better. I'd say you were trying to convince us that the Anathema aren't evil."

"I-" Pyrrha hesitated again. "I'm not trying to do that, it's just…"

That was it,the reason why he was so worried. Pyrrha had always been careful, thinking a lot before she said anything, but now she was doing it even more. There was something she had to stop herself from saying.

"Anyway, my room's right over here," Jaune said loudly enough that they could hear it through the closed door. "My teammates probably aren't going to be around."

"We'll talk more later," Nora whispered to Pyrrha, who nodded as she gathered her shower bag.

"So, tell me again about this Ruby. Really nasty girl, right?" a girl said from the hall.

"What? No! She's great." Jaune raised his voice slightly. "She always helped me with my homework and really-"

"What? But she was going to kill Professor Goodwitch."

"When did tha-" Jaune yelled, then went quiet. "Oh, I remember now... I don't really know why she did that."

Nora patted Pyrrha on the shoulder as the doorknob turned.

"Anyway, this is-" Jaune flung it open, revealing a tiny blonde girl in a Beacon uniform. "My wonderful team."

He chuckled with a ridiculous grin on his face. "Uhh, guys, meet Marigold. We were just stopping by for…"

Jaune glanced to the side and picked up Ren's extra thermos.

"My water bottle... So that we can go for a run. Umm..." He looked down the hall. "Let's go grab yours next."

Jaune closed the door and left without saying anything else.

"Do you want a hug?" Nora asked Pyrrha from the side.

Pyrrha nodded, leaning into Nora.

"You should talk to him." Ren stepped up, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"He still can't remember Ruby most of the time. I wouldn't be able to convince him of anything."

Ren sighed. That wasn't the problem he was was referring to, but until she made any move, nothing would happen. Some people were blind to what was right in front of them.

* * *

She stepped back from her luggage, carefully inspecting the almost immaculate quarters. The posting at the Atlas R&D facility had been an incredible boon to both her skills and her career, but tomorrow she would be in the field once more.

The people of Vale needed assistance in their darkest hour. With their Hunters crippled by... some effect that hadn't properly been identified, but was undoubtedly caused by Anathema, they had to ask others to deal with such threats.

Winter Schnee opened her new orders on her scroll while her ghostly Nevermore finished gathering any scraps which the vacuuming had missed. It was not the most dignified of actions for her Semblance to perform, but it was much more efficient than attempting to do so herself.

The first stop would be Beacon Academy, where she would be briefed on the current situation with the other Specialists. Their targets would be assigned and they would then exterminate them with extreme prejudice. Some had already gone to ground and Vale could not risk them lying in wait until they had the opportunity to join up with others.

While visiting the academy would be nice, there was a second reason that she wanted to go there. It would be the second time this year that she'd see her precious younger sister. Ever since the summer, they'd only been able to communicate via coded letters which had gotten increasingly worrying.

She opened the most recent message from Weiss.

 _Dearest Winter,_

 _I'm writing you today to inform you that I now understand why you hold General Ironwood in such high esteem. We spoke at length about my studies and plans for the future, which he was very approving of. I will be..._

Her sister had risked a great deal, but Winter was confident about her chances because of prior decisions that the military had made.

Winter had been one of the first on the scene of the Grimm attack where they discovered the 'friendly' Anathema. While she did not know what had happened to the boy, the results were far above her pay grade, she had heard that he was allowed to live for quite some time by technicians who should've known better than to gossip.

General Ironwood had enough pull to ensure Weiss' safety as long as she cooperated with him and Winter was sure that the sister she grew up with would seek good ends. If she didn't, then there was one more person who could now pull the trigger.

 _...very regrettable that such events had to unfold. I was happy when I was with them in a way that I don't remember being before. Both Blake and Yang had been truly kind, so much so that the horrifying revelation had an impact on not only myself, but all of my classmates as well._

 _It is regrettable that such talent was the result of fell powers. All that I can hope for is that their deaths be painless._

When she heard about her sister's relationships, Winter had been a bit surprised. Weiss hadn't expressed interest in anyone before, let alone two women at once. The plea to not kill her girlfriends also came through. However, that was not something that Winter could directly impact. She would defend Weiss, who had already made an incredible amount of progress reclaiming their family honor from their father's action, but others would simply be-

A loud clang came from the ceiling, followed by several smaller thumps.

Winter banished her summons and moved to the corner of the room, blade in hand. The pounded progressed until it was directly above the center of the room. After a moment of silence, the sounds of straining metal made her wince. Those hinges needed to be oiled.

A ceiling panel slid to the side and a head of bright orange popped out. From her limited point of view, Winter would guess this was a girl who had used far too much product because her hair was defying gravity by staying in place. The head looked back and forth, but never behind itself, which was where Winter was standing. The short girl flipped to the ground after looking around twice. A covert infiltrator she was not.

"Ahem." Winter cleared her throat.

The girl snapped to attention, saluting as she turned around. "Ahh!"

"Who are you?"

"Cadet Penny Polendina, ma'am."

"Hmm." Winter had worked with only one Polendina so far, one of the most eccentric researchers at the academy. He wanted to know whether her Semblance could be used to empower automatons. Fortunately for her sanity, it did not. "What exactly are you doing?"

"I- umm… Not-" She stammered, hiccuping in the middle of the statement, "-thing."

Winter loudly tapped her heel as she pulled up a listing of students. The name and face matched.

"I mean... " Penny looked down. "I was attempting to move through the building via the vents, ma'am."

"And why were you crawling through the air ducts instead of using the hallway?"

She glanced at the window, then tried to look Winter in the eye, but wound up staring at her neck. "I wanted to visit the city without my father's bodyguards escorting me."

Winter had to resist emoting. "And this was the method that you chose?"

"He is very protective of me and hired a bunch of careful bodyguards, but I'm much smaller than them so I can move through places they can't." she said without any of the flinching that Winter had learned to associate with childhoods like her own. Perhaps Penny's father was just worried, not controlling.

"He would not allow you to go out by yourself?"

"There are always people making sure that I'm safe. But, safe is boring and I don't have much time left on campus and there's an arcade that's just spectacular. It has a wonderful dancing game."

Winter arched an eyebrow. "You're leaving the academy as a Cadet?"

"Me? Oh no, I'm… Well, I was going to be participating the Vytal festival, but they've asked me to go to Vale early in order to help with…"Penny pressed her hands to her chest. "With finding my friend Ruby."

"Ruby?" Somehow, that name sounded familiar.

"She's a freshman at Beacon who... " Penny went silent for a few seconds. "She's a good person who never wanted to hurt anyone and..."

"What did she do?"

"She's the one who everyone's saying attacked Beacon last week." Penny dropped her head. "I watched the video-"

Everyone Winter knew had seen multiple copies of that video by now. The consensus among those who knew of the new Anathema classifications was that the girl in red was another one, especially given how potent she had been in a fight.

"-and it's definitely her, but she wouldn't do something like that. She told me that she wanted to stop the investigations from hurting people so much, so she had to stop them and that she was sorry it had to be that way "

"Have you heard from her recently?"

"N-No." Penny hiccuped. "I have not heard anything."

Winter never would have conceived of someone being that bad of a liar. "You just said that she was sorry about what had happened."

"So I did." Penny gave her a toothy grin that was completely unconvincing. After half a minute of holding it, she said, "She's messaged me twice in the past week through a new email account. When I was at Beacon, me and Ruby were texting all of the time about the things she was thinking and her really cool scythe and her team."

"So you-" Winter paused as she put together exactly who this person was. She had been in one of the pictures that Weiss sent during her first week at Beacon. Ruby Rose was the leader of her sister's team who was also an engineering prodigy... Which made the Anathema assumption all the more likely. "So you have been in touch with her."

"Yes, but not as much as I had been before."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No, but I'd like to see her again and there might be a chance of that happening while I'm there."

Winter held her face still so that the frown wouldn't show. This girl was in for a very rude awakening if what she suspected was true. But, that was something that every Specialist needed to go through eventually. "Very well, thank you for the information. We may be working together in Vale."

Penny blinked several times. "Ma'am?"

"I'm flying to Beacon this afternoon. Perhaps I'll see you there." Winter relaxed her posture and lifted her bag.

"May I leave?"

"Yes," She smiled. "I have not received any orders regarding a Penny Polendina or where she is supposed to be."

She knew all too well how much being locked in a gilded cage chafed on the soul. The academy was a safe place for a young girl to escape from her handlers and be free for however long she could.


	60. Chapter 9-5

"Thank you for staying with us after the battle, Miss Rose."

"Thank you for the wonderful service." She waved to the innkeeper as she stepped into the light of day. The air was hot and a muggy, but the little town of Saffron that looked incredible in the morning light. Normally she would've slept in, but something about being outside of a kingdom made her feel like getting up early. Or, maybe that was the blessing she'd wrapped around herself. A doctor needed to rise with the dawn to take care of her patient. "The pancakes were great."

"They're my specialty." The portly man smiled. "And if you can keep Jasper from wearing them, all the better."

Normally, she would've laughed at the sight of a professional Hunter falling into his meals, but the man was only doing that because of the curse. "Did he do better today?"

"Got halfway through his omelet before someone turned the radio on, one word about the hunt and then he just slumped over." The man sighed. "It's a damned shame those devils got to him."

"He should get better soon. Once his Aura's strong enough to break through, he'll be able to get back to a normal meal." She lied through her teeth, masking the slight delay with a giggle. His Aura wouldn't do anything, but the curse of cowardice against the Anathema that she put on him would make him less likely to try and do something about them.

"May Saturn bring this injustice to a swift end." He bowed his head in prayer.

She gave him a short bow when he stopped, certain that his prayer would go unanswered, and stepped into the street, her cloak swishing behind her.

Saffron was a wonderful little town that felt so much like Patch it was hard to think of leaving. It would be so nice to stay, bask in the smell of freshly baked bread, and just protect people. That was the life she'd dreamed about since she was a little girl… and also the life that she would never be able to live.

She'd arrived just before the largest Grimm attack of the season. Without her assistance, the town would have fallen because their chief Huntsman had been incapacitated for weeks. His future held the potential for great good, if only he would give up on chasing the Anathema.

"Miss Rose!" Two voices called out from behind her. "Are you really leaving?"

She twirled around, catching the twins right before they slammed into her.

"Please tell us you'll stay longer, just one more day!" Seok pleaded, his eyes already glistening with tears.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head slowly. No matter how much she might've wanted to stay and save the town from its dark Destiny, there were bigger problems that she needed to tackle. "There are others who need my help."

"But we need your help!" Eun joined in the begging. Or, at least she thought it was Eun.

"Saffron will be fine. You have Mist and Snow don't you?"

"Yeah," they sighed.

"Don't be like that." She ruffled their hair, though she also did agree with the thought.

"But they suck!" Seok raised his fists. "They can't even jump up to the top of the tower!"

"I bet, that when we become Hunters, we can totally kick their butts."

She snickered with a groan at the end. Considering how potent their unawakened Auras sounded, they weren't wrong.

The pair were junior Hunters, just graduated from Beacon almost five years ago, but their skills were bottom of the barrel, just barely good enough to graduate. They could handle every day Grimm, but a real attack would overwhelm them.

"The two of them will keep you safe." Considering the blessings that she left behind, they'd better.

"But..." She dragged out the word, a silly smile appearing on her face. "If you're really that worried. How would you two like to go higher than them?"

She pointed to the top of the clock tower, which was where the Hunter watchman was normally perched.

"Really?!" Their eyes practically sparkled.

"Hold on tight." She lifted them up so they could wrap their arms around her. As soon as they were ready, she held them tight and took off. Luckily, they were standing on a dirt road, because any cobblestones would've shattered for the force.

She twirled as she ascended, the two boys screaming while they did their best to break her ribs. At the top of her jump, her cloak whipped around her, letting them see their town in a new way.

"Woah."

She smiled, looking out over the buildings from the top of their clock tower. The vibrant red leaves of the Forever Fall looked amazing with the morning dew sparkling. It was a good look for the world to have.

She stood up there for as long as their arms held out, then gently landed on the street below. The two stepped back and bowed very low.

"Thank you so much!"

She smiled again and waved them off, with the pair of blessings that she'd constructed attached to their Auras. It was so much easier than anything which would affect a Hunter, which they would become some day if she had anything to say about it. The blessings of heroism that she placed would carry them into their twenties.

The world needed more Hunters like that: young, full of hope, and truthful. She paused and glanced at the window, looking into her natural silver eyes. Or, more accurately, the appearance of how she should be. A little older, and really similar to her mom's academy pictures, but better.

Ruby threw herself onto Bumblebee and revved the engine. She'd picked the bike up before she left Beacon, and not only because it allowed her to move much faster. Bumblebee wasn't hers. Yang had poured her heart and soul into riding and maintaining her precious bike and the energy within his metal still sounded like Yang's.

By using him as a focus, Ruby could feel the ripples that Yang was making.

* * *

As soon as she was far enough away from the town that no one would see her, Ruby shrugged the mantle of 'Ruby Rose, wandering Aurologist' off and let it fall next to 'Ruby Rose, Huntress'. She'd never imagined that the solution to her biggest problem could be so simple, but also feel so wrong. By… wearing, for lack of a better word, one of her blessings, she could become it… and be remembered. But, it was all a lie, the person that everyone saw was the illusion of the person she created… the person that she wanted to be.

It would have been so easy to just stay there, keeping that little town safe. She could probably do it all by herself.

But, it wouldn't be the best use of her abilities.

Ruby pointed a finger in the air and blasted a small Nevermore away with her finger-gun. She could do so much more than just fight Grimm. She had to do so much more to make up for everything else.

Weiss had been right. She should have stopped, calmed down, and really thought about what was going on. Instead, she'd been charging ahead all semester, chasing goal after goal without considering what the price of achieving them was.

She found out what the investigations were like by forcing herself into one and almost getting Weiss killed.

She found out what Blake and Yang were keeping from her by revealing them to the entire world and hurting Yang worse than anything else.

She stopped the investigations by crippling Vale's ability to fight the Anathema who needed to be fought. The curse was incredibly effective, but she couldn't make it any more selective than it already was.

And now, it seemed like she could finally be remembered, but only if she threw away who she really was and lived a pretend life where no one knew her true self.

Ruby looked at the stars, swerving around a fallen tree reflexively. This journey let her spend time reading them better and see more of what would happen if she didn't intervene. With more knowledge, she would hopefully keep herself from making the same mistakes... again.

The first people she tried using on were her own team.

 _'Yang shall become someone new.'_ That one was simple enough to figure out. If Yang wanted to stop running, she'd need to become a new person. Though, she was also a lot foggier than the others.

 _'Blake shall survive a deadly toxin.'_ It was a bit more ominous, but the future said that she would survive.

 _'Weiss shall argue with a Maiden.'_ Also dangerous, but if any of them were going to convince the goddesses to do something useful, it would be Weiss.

She could've looked at her own future. She probably should've looked at her own, but right now just living her life was good enough. Seeing her own future felt sort of like cheating, but… there was also another problem.

It was not enough to know what the future had in store for her or which of her options she would prefer the outcome of. She also needed to know why that was what she wanted, the secrets that were concealed within her own heart and what was missing from all of the ideas that she considered unacceptable.

They controlled what she could see when it mattered most.

Ruby sighed and checked the time on her scroll. It was getting close to noon. She also had four hundred unread messages, all of which would remain unread. Right now, she couldn't deal with them. What the news said about her was bad enough, she didn't need to add the accusations of betrayal to the list… Or the people who would be begging her to come back. Weiss knew why she couldn't, but Pyrrha, Penny, and her dad all didn't.

That was the sacrifice that she needed to perform to make things right, abandoning her friends and family while they worried about her. Once she found both herself and her sister, she could talk to them again.

Ruby took a deep breath and opened her ears to the music of the world. Bumblebee's Dust engine was the loudest song, it's chaotic notes thundering through the trees until they echoed back at her. But, there were other, quieter patterns which she wouldn't have been able to make out a month ago. Rivers of song meandered across the land, enveloping everything for hundreds of feet at the most narrow sections and only changing course when the terrain did, just like normal rivers.

Where they diverged, people tended to live; where they met, the Grimm held dominion. Mars had called the Grimm a corruption, but this energy felt more natural than much of what she felt in Vale. Were they being created by it or consuming it?

She didn't know and didn't have the time to investigate.

When she saw Weiss again, she'd bring it up. She'd always been good to bounce ideas off of and maybe some of her partner's sorcery could figure out what the energy meant.

But until then, she had a sister to find and a team to rebuild. Everything else could wait.

* * *

 **A/N:** This brings us to chapter 60 and what I've been thinking of as the end of book 1.

A lot of people have said that they feel like a time skip was coming and that this felt like the end of volume three. They're entirely correct.

There is going to be a time skip, both in story and in real life. It's been a little over a year and I'm very proud to say that I met my own imposed deadline of a chapter per week for that time. I never imagined I'd be able to write so much in that much time.

But, I need to take a short break.

So, without further ado, thank you so much for reading up to this point. Miracles of Ancient Wonder will be returning the first week of July.


	61. Book 2 Chapter 1-1

Ruby held Crescent Rose to her shoulder, an Ursa in her sights. She focused on the chamber of her weapon, which was empty, and the flow of energy as it led to the end of the barrel. With a quick pulse of her Aura and a pull of the trigger, _she forced a unit of violence into existence._ The Ursa's head exploded because that was the power of the gun, to connect the barrel with the target and deal death at a distance. Technically speaking, she could've forced the Grimm to be peaceful to her, and her only, but this wasn't a normal group of them, it was a horde that needed to be killed.

Her next three shots cleared the road of greater Grimm and opened a route to the fields surrounding Dōsatsu City. Regular Grimm were barely worth paying attention to, they crumpled under Bumblebee's wheels. Her sister's borrowed bike was every bit the vehicle of a Huntress that Ruby'd expected it to be: strong, tough, and fast.

As she crested a hill, the slate walls of the city took over the skyline. They were tall and built with late Colorless Empire sensibilities, designed at the point where the outlying regions couldn't count on Vale to send them any aid and enemy Aura-wielders were more of a threat than the Grimm. The Cross-Continental Transmit Repeater poked above them, lighting up the evening sky with a brilliant blue glow. It was a beacon of freedom and civilization in the far reaches of the territory Vale claimed. It was also near the last place that Blake and Yang had been spotted.

The fields around the city were coated in the inky blackness of Grimm. Explosions of fire and ice dotted the landscape, the results of the artillery that fired in staccato from the walls while the anti-air guns provided a solid tempo. Their blasts formed a line that the smaller Grimm couldn't cross, an area of denial that would funnel them towards Ruby's target: the whirlwind scything through the horde like a hot knife through butter. She could barely make out a feminine figure, who had to be the area's strongest Huntress, in the center of the winds thanks to all of the debris being thrown around.

Ruby gunned the engine and shifted Crescent Rose to her lance form, the blade rotating to be in line with the shaft. Her front wheel hopped into the air, smashing into an Ursa's back as it fell, and she cleared a path through the sea of monsters. It was easier to cleave through without worrying about hitting the ground if you rode on top of them.

The small tornado dissipated by being shot away from the city as Ruby approached. In the center was a tall, blond woman with a polemace that had a spinning head. Considering the thickness of the white and gold armor she wore, she should be a front liner like Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Jaune.

Ruby waved as she approached, slowing to a stop and using Crescent Rose's rifle mode to keep the Grimm back. Her Aura was almost definitely stronger than the woman's, but using too much of her power while wearing the mantle of Ruby Rose, Long-Wandering Huntress, would cause problems. She didn't know what type of problems and wasn't in any rush to find out since thinking about them sent a shiver down her spine.

"Hello there! Glad to see a fellow Academy Huntress entering the fray. I'm Celeste, Guardian of Dōsatsu City." The woman raised her head, ponytail spiraling behind her as she batted a rolling Boarbatusk away. After a moment, noticing the questioning look Ruby was giving her, she continued. "You're from Vale then. I'm the Huntress-Commander of the city, aka Guardian."

"Gotcha. I'm Ruby Rose." She continuously fired, keeping her eyes on their enemies. Though she did catch the slight frown from Celeste. "How did you know I went to Beacon?"

"Only three types of people can cut through Grimm like that: monks, syndicate heavies, and Academy Hunters. No offense, but you really don't seem like the type for the first two."

"Syndicate?"

"Mistral crime families. Ever since that mess at Beacon, they've been moving in along the coast."

"Oh…" Ruby'd have to do something about that if she found them since that was sort of her fault.

"Also, Stahl warned me that a Ruby Rose would be coming our way next. Even though I wasn't expecting you to be that capable from what he said." Celeste pressed a button on her weapon's shaft and fired a wall of razor wind with her next swing. "You couldn't have picked a better time to arrive."

If Ruby hadn't been wearing the scant bits that remained of her crafted identity, no one would have been able to remember her. "Are you low on Hunters?"

"Unfortunately so. The Anathema made sure of that." She spat at an Alpha Beowolf before slamming it across the field. "My junior Guardian was incapacitated after fighting them by the curse on Vale. I sent him to a hospital in the city until he recovers. And the regulars are distracting the rest of the horde in the forest."

"I'm sorry."

After a brief hesitation, Celeste shook her head. "It isn't your fault, but thank you."

Ruby barely resisted the urge to look away. That actually was her fault. "Did he particularly dislike the Anathema?"

"No, but when they came near, he insisted on fighting them," Celeste sighed. "I don't know what they did to him, but he couldn't get out of bed when he returned. Once that happened, the panic set in."

Ruby took a deep breath. What were Blake and Yang doing? She had been sure that they weren't bad people, that was a pretty big part of why she'd cursed Vale, but if they were hurting other people… Then she didn't know what she'd do. "You didn't go with him?"

"I'm not about to leave my city without a Huntress and my children without a mother. I've fought one of those demons before, one who had been active for only a month. It was almost beyond me." The lines of silver in the older woman's hair were obvious now that Ruby was closer. If it wasn't for those, and the cold calmness in her eyes, Ruby wouldn't have guessed her above thirty. "Two that spent most of a semester at Beacon would take an army that I don't have."

"Mmh." Ruby nodded. If it came down to a fight, she wasn't sure if she could take either Blake or Yang despite her not only beating one of the strongest Huntresses at Beacon one on one, but also having only gotten better in the months of searching for her runaway teammates. "Who's manning the cannons then?"

"We have a civilian militia and a squad of combat school graduates. Their Auras may be weak, but their hearts are strong and their aim steady." She pointed over her shoulder at the nearest cannon.

Ruby looked at the wall, quickly calculating the yield and fire-rate of those guns. She had the rounds to turn the tide of the ground fight. "Can I take command of the nearest group? I'll be more effective at range and should coordinate firing zones with them."

"Do you have any experience leading in combat?"

"I was a team leader at Beacon."

Celeste glanced at Ruby, backhanding a Beowolf as it lept at her. She pointed to a section of the wall with her mace. "Head for the east gate and take position on the wall. Command frequency is seventy three point four, I'll let the third know to expect you."

Ruby nodded, glancing at the gate. "One more question. What sort of Elder Grimm are we dealing with?"

This many Grimm would never coordinate without an older, more intelligent Grimm leading it. They would've come in small, easily taken out, groups.

"Ancient Boarbatusk. My scouts say it's almost thirty feet tall at the shoulder. It's still chasing them around the forest."

Ruby dropped the empty magazine from Crescent Rose and slammed one full of Dust rounds in its place. "Gotcha."

* * *

Several minutes of light combat passed before Celeste heard Ruby's voice over her earpiece.

"Ruby Rose, in position for fire support. Squads two through five, focus our fire on the edges of the battlefield and leave the main arc to me."

"What?" Celeste asked herself, momentarily freezing. The girl didn't think she could provide four cannons worth of fire herself, did she?

"Ruby, are you sure about-" Celeste's question was interrupted by the first shot of the girl's sniper rifle.

A massive Dust explosion, slightly smaller than one of their heavy shells, blossomed within the densest pack of Grimm. A moment later, a second appeared, and a third, and a fourth. The bursts of fiery energy continued until eight in total tore through their enemies. Ruby had in fact outdone four normal cannons worth of damage with what seemed like a single shot.

And then she fired again, a one woman artillery battery.

Celeste turned back to the Grimm, trying to ignore the clustered destruction surrounding her. That had to be the girl's Semblance. No one, not even Atlas' Specialists, would burn through such expensive ammunition that quickly. A single Dust round for a heavy rifle would have cost the same as a nice dinner for her family, so burning through something as advanced as a cluster warhead would be ludicrous. And yet, she couldn't deny its effectiveness.

But, it wouldn't do to rely so much on one so much younger to defend her city.

Celeste pressed a button on the handle of her Typherion. Wind Dust flowed into the head of the mace, spinning it faster and faster. Within seconds, it had been concealed by swirling clouds. Only then did she unleash her Semblance, strengthening the winds and giving them a razor's edge. They encircled her, narrowed until lines of sliced air could be seen, and she became the whirlwind once more.

She rocketed into the waves of Grimm, leaving piles of bodies and limbs in her wake. It was not an efficient combat strategy, as her teachers had told her many times, but it was impossible for the small ones to survive. Someone with a weaker Aura would have lasted minutes, but she was a child of Heroes with a soul to match. She hoped her own children would reach the same heights, but none seemed too interested in fighting.

With two Huntresses on the field, none of the Grimm made it close to the walls. They needed something stronger to push through.

A line of trees swayed to the side, it's steps boomed as they approached, and it revealed itself. The monster was a bit taller than she'd heard.

The great Boarbutusk briefly stopped, then came smashing through the edge of the forest in the roll that its species was so famous for. It dug a deep trench, kicking up mounds of dirt as it charged her. The lesser Grimm caught in front of it were crushed flat, but none of that would matter if it hit the wall.

Celeste pointed her mace away from it and spun more Wind Dust. The gale became strong enough that she was pulled away even with her heavy armor. But before she could move, a scarlet flash appeared in the air in front of it.

Ruby's red cloak whipped in the wind as she held her rifle out. Four Gravity Dust rounds hit it in the side, twisting its path, and one more launched it into the air, several impossible shots considering her position. It spun up, in a clumsy arc, soaring over the field and right into another attack by Ruby. As soon as she'd fired, she'd vanished into a cloud of petals and reappeared in it's path, spinning in the air.

The tip of her weapon caught the Boarbatusk and tore into it. They spun in opposite directions, allowing her the maximum amount of power behind the blow… or was it blows? Ruby was far off and spinning fast enough that it was hard to make out her weapon, but it seemed like there were five blades cutting into the Grimm in succession, as if she was a saw blade.

That all might be explainable by a duplication Semblance along with a martial art or weapon evocation, but it was very odd for someone that young to be so powerful. Stahl would've recognized someone that powerful visiting his town. Then again, he also hadn't seen her in a serious fight.

The massive creature hit the ground in a heap. Two of its legs and one tusk had almost been severed by the assault and yet, it tried to stand again. Ruby landed on its head, weapon pointed at its skull. She fired once, but the bullet deflected off of the monster's mask.

 _Ruby held a hand toward it, fingers outstretched. She closed them, as if she were grasping something, then pulled back. As her hand moved above her head, long strips were torn from the Grimm, as if she'd yanked wires that ran through its body free._ When the last ribbon separated, it began to decompose.

Celeste drummed her fingers on the shaft of her mace. That was a very interesting attack. It was too subtle for sorcery, but could be a martial art. She'd need to look into just what Ruby did after they cleaned up.

Thankfully, finishing off the remaining Grimm was easy.

* * *

Ruby stepped into the entry hall of Celeste's house with a whistle. "Wow, it's so big. Thanks for inviting me over."

"It's the least I could do for the stranger who saved us." The older woman waved it off and shouted up the stairs, "I'm back and we have a guest."

The house was huge, more twice the size of Ruby's home in Patch, but, if someone had as many kids as the pictures on the wall showed, that made sense. There were five little ones, unless Ruby wasn't counting them right. The pictures closest to the door were the newest, with each line getting closer to baby pictures, and furthest in were what must've teenaged Celeste with her family of... six sisters and…

"Celeste?" Ruby paused in front of an almost full family picture. "What's your maiden name?"

"Hmm?" Celeste stepped behind Ruby and smiled. "Ahh, yeah, I thought that you'd recognize him. Jaune Arc, Hero of Beacon, aka my baby bro."

She pulled the picture off and ran her fingers over the glass. "I'm still Celeste Arc. Forest, my husband, took my name when we married."

"Why aren't you in that picture? And if you're a Huntress, why was Jaune so..." Ruby tried to figure out a nice way to phrase her other question without also sounding weird. "Why didn't he know anything about being a Hunter? When he came to Beacon, he didn't even know what Aura was!"

"You seem to know a lot about a boy so much younger than you."

"I still have friends at Beacon."

"Fair enough. Both of those questions have the same answer. Mom and dad didn't approve of my becoming a Huntress. Maribelle and Flora"- She pointed to the oldest girls -"both know, but as far as the others are concerned, I'm an armorsmith who cares more about her new family than her siblings."

Ruby could sense danger surrounding her next question, but pressed on anyway. Too many of her options were dangerous to ignore such a small amount. "That still doesn't explain his ignorance."

"When I decided to apply to a Hunter Academy, and even worse got in, they pulled the others out of school, moved to a very remote part of Vale, and home schooled them until they went away to college."

"How could they do that to their own kids?"

"I'm sure you've heard about our family legacy of heroism."

Ruby nodded.

"An Arc has lead the fight during every major war in the past century, the good ones and the bad. Papi and mémé were destroyed by what happened during the Faunus Rebellion. Dad says that his parents left to save their kingdom and came back as broken shells who hated their countrymen." Celeste closed her eyes. "They passed away when I was twelve, but I can still remember the way they looked at the Faunus, the regret and shame in their eyes."

Ruby looked at the picture again, then over to one of a happy old couple holding their grand-kids on their shoulders. "That's awful."

"Yeah, but that's how life fell into place." Celeste placed the picture back on the wall.

Ruby waited for a moment. "You should tell them. Now that Jaune's a Huntsman too, well Huntsman-in-training, they can't still be mad and there's no reason why you shouldn't rejoin your family."

She laughed emptily. "You're so young."

That was one of the phrases that Ruby had been tired of half way through her first month at Beacon.

"Maybe your parents are different, but do you really think they'd just accept you back if they spent years thinking that you could hurt your little sisters or brother because your own choices?"

And that was one of the questions still stuck in Ruby's head. Just how would Yang react when Ruby found her? What was dad thinking about?

"Now, that's not a good face for a pretty girl to have." Celeste clapped a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I'm sure that whatever you're thinking of wasn't that bad and they'll still love you."

There was something in the woman's eyes beyond sympathy. Unfortunately, Ruby couldn't quite tell exactly what it was.

"And even if they don't," She pointed to a picture of herself with two little kids on her shoulders. "Once you have one of your own, that won't matter as much."

Ruby flinched at the thought.

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "You don't want children?"

"No!" Ruby shouted. "I'm way too young to even think about something like that and also-" She shuddered at the thought of going through that. "Ugh."

"It's a lot easier before the responsibilities pile up and you can't take several months off without something going wrong. Someone with your talent will be in high demand for her whole life." She crossed her arms and shook her head, eyes never leaving Ruby's face. "Besides, you look like you're at the perfect age."

"What are you-" Ruby cut herself off when her disguise reminded her that freaking out would be out of character. She was currently Ruby Rose, _Long_ -Wandering Huntress and Beacon Graduate, who was in her mid-twenties, not her mid-teens. That didn't make the pushiness not annoying, but it was less of a terrible thought considering her mom was around the age that Ruby currently looked when Ruby'd been born. "Look, I'm not interested in any of that right now. I have much more important things to do, okay?"

Celestre watched her coldly. "Like what brought you so far from Vale?"

"Yeah."

She motioned to continue.

"I'm tracking down the two big Anathema."

"All by yourself? That's suicide."

Ruby shook her head. "No, it isn't."

Celeste grabbed her shoulder. "Listen, you might have just pulled of some crazy techniques earlier, but Anathema like that are no joke. They've beaten entire ships of Specialists."

"I have to."

"Why? You'd be throwing your life away by fighting them." Celeste wasn't saying something and Ruby had a good idea what it was now. The only question that remained, was how to get rid of her suspicion; even though, this identity was so short lived it being suspected of being Anathema wouldn't affect Ruby at all.

 _Ruby looked to the potential paths this conversation could take and, of course, found that there were none that would leave them both happy._ Of course there weren't, there hadn't been any real win-wins since… She couldn't remember how long. At least she could make sure Celeste was less sad.

"It's not that simple." Ruby dropped her head. "One of them was my sister."

Yang still was her sister, as far as Ruby was concerned, but that was what a loyal Huntress would say. It was like what Weiss always did, say just enough to let something think they knew what you were talking about.

The extra emotion vanished from Celeste's eyes. She closed them and ran her fingers over her eyelids. "I'm sorry. That's been a nightmare of mine all of my life... having to Hunt my own family."

"You've fought Anathema before?"

She pointed to a crest on her armor, right above her heart. "Do you know what this is?"

Ruby shook her head.

"What are they teaching at Beacon?" Celeste groaned. "If Jaune comes out not knowing anything about the other kingdoms, I'm going to send a very strongly worded letter to the headmaster… That's still Ozpin, isn't it?"

"You didn't go to Beacon?"

"I'm a Haven girl and this"- she pointed back to the patch -"means that I'm a knight of the Titan's Fist. That's the guild that handles all things Anathema in west Mistral and east Sanus."

The major guilds she remembered, just not their symbols. "I thought they went after really powerful Grimm."

Celeste nodded. "We do those too. 'Any great and powerful foe shall fall to the might of the Titans.'"

"Do you do investigations, like the ones in Vale?"

"Not my responsibility, but we're the guild in charge of them." She narrowed her eyes at Ruby's reaction. "Do you have a problem with that?"

That explained why there was no good end for her and also all of the suspicion. Ruby was Anathema after all. "They're horrible and something that good, moral people shouldn't take part in."

"I wouldn't call all of the interrogators moral, but they're needed to keep all of us safe." Celeste crossed her arms. "The criminal guilds _will_ cover for Anathema if doing so helps them and sometimes they need the information beaten from their lying lips."

"Criminals have guilds? Like, a thieves guild?"

"Oh yeah, they're just not called something that obvious. The Goldenforge is a good example. They're the biggest counterfeiters out there."

"If you know this, why don't you just stop them?"

"It's not that easy. They have a lot of legal business as jewelers and even though we know they make counterfeit bills, most of their members aren't criminals. Also, they have a lot of money that isn't fake to buy off anyone asking too many questions."

It was never as easy as just finding the bad guys and stopping them. Well, it hadn't been before Ruby could cripple organizations. She just needed to know which ones to target and have someone to use as an anchor for the curse. That would be easy, but the number of problems that she could, and wanted to, solve this way was adding up so fast she'd spend all of her Aura and still not be finished.

"Then, why aren't you going after all of the other Anathema in Vale? I heard that three more have been sighted."

"Two reasons. The first is that we haven't finished negotiating with the Vale council, they seem to think that Atlas is enough, and the second is that Dōsatsu City is a major airship port. All sorts of information passes through here."

"So, do you know where the Beacon pair is?"

"You're not going to listen to reason, are you?"

"I need to find her and… do what needs to be done."

Ruby could feel the weight of Celeste's decision and budged it in the right direction. _Ruby Rose is not Anathema._

As the woman's Aura righted itself, she said, "After they caused the explosion on Mount Aitan, they were probably last seen in the Thistlebane Forest."

Why they blew up the side of a mountain wasn't first on Ruby's list of questions for Yang, but it was certainly up there. "Probably?"

"We've found six or seven distinct tracks leading into and out of the forest. If I were to bet, I'd say the reports of a blond Anathema arriving at the village in the middle was them, but… none of our scouts have returned since."

"I see." Ruby's ability to be ignored would help out there. If the Grimm had overrun it, she could just force them to be calm while she passed through. If Blake and Yang had actually taken over a town instead of people freaking out when they passed through… Well, she'd deal with that when the time came. "Though, can we talk about something else? Something happier?"

Celeste pursed her lips, clearly considering saying something else. _Ruby shoved Celeste's Aura to force her into agreement._ "How about pie?"

"Pie?"

"Forest bakes a different pie every time I go to the field as another incentive to come back home safe. I think you deserve a slice considering how much you helped." The older woman grinned. "On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You need to give him a full review of the flavor and tell me what you did to finish the Boarbutusk."

Ruby opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. How was she supposed to explain that she grabbed a hold of the Grimm's future and tore enough out to kill it right now? Then the perfect answer hit her. "Wait, that's two conditions!"

Celeste smiled and stepped further into the house, giving Ruby enough time to think up a good enough description of the technique. All it did was tear off the remaining destiny for her target, but there was no accurate way of explaining how that worked. The pie was also delicious, though not quite sweet enough for Ruby's tastes.

She accepted the offer of a bed in the guest room. Though, it was a little weird that all of Celeste's kids were staying at friends houses even though Celeste shouldn't think Ruby was Anathema anymore.

It was a real shame that Celeste was part of the Mistral Hunters. If she'd been with Vale, Ruby wouldn't have to do anything more and her city would still be safe. In Vale, the investigations were separated from normal duties and people were members of different organizations, so Ruby could curse one without hitting the ability of the other to function. In Mistral, that wasn't the case. Dōsatsu City was going to be down two Hunters until it was safe to release the curses, along with every other city Celeste's guild worked in.

It… should be okay for them to be weakened for now because Blake and Yang were less than a week away. All she needed to do was find them and then she could remove the curses.

But they were awfully good at not being found.

So, in the morning, Ruby sent an email to Haven Academy which let them know that the Titan's Fist Guild would be affected like Vale was, just in case. With that handled, she was off.


	62. Book Two Link

**A/N: Hey all, I just realized that I probably should make a new story for book two instead of directly continuing the first one. There're a couple of reasons why it might not be a good idea, but I think the reasons for it outnumber those against it.**

 **The new one is here: s/12572960/1/Miracles-of-Ancient-Wonder-Remnant**


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